TLOD: The Next Generation, The Cataclysmic Reunion
by Archangel and Spike
Summary: Evil never truly dies, it only sleeps, waiting for the world's protectors to drop their guard. The Dragoons have reunited, and conquered that evil yet again, the final installment, only a mouseclick away...
1. The Lost Soul Found

The Legend of Dragoon: The Next Generation, The Cataclysmic Reunion

Authors: Spike and Archangel

Chapter One: The Lost Soul Found

How could everyone scoff at this place? How could no one ever desire to accompany Frank Darteth to this spectacular place? It was so wonderfully dreary, so incredibly spooky. This old, dead city ruin _had_ to have had a significance in the world of old.

Frank spent all his time here, wandering around the dismal landscape, taking in its gloom and depression. He loved it, and in that way he had been different from his friends in the neighboring town all his life. He'd been shunned for years, old acquaintances even from his toddler years, now calling him a freak and a psycho. But he didn't care, it was stupid of them to judge him when they'd never been here themselves.

He was addicted! He couldn't stay away from this place, but what was it called? The dim voices he always heard didn't seem to hear him when he inquired, for they never replied. Yet, as time had progressed, one voice, always gradually became clearer. Soon enough Frank could comprehend the words.

"Almost ready, Almost ready, Almost ready…" on and on this voice persisted with the same two words, changing only in clarity. Did it not sleep? Where did it come from?

"Almost ready for what?" Frank asked, yet another time, and once again, no audible reply followed; only those two words, repeating over and over and over again.

"I said, what is almost ready?" Frank shouted, weary of the voices continuous droning. "Answer me!" He demanded.

"Almost ready, Almost ready, Almost ready, ALMOST READY!"

"FOR WHAT?"

"What?"

Frank stopped cold. Suddenly every sound about the ruins silenced, as if waiting for Frank to decide what had just happened.

"Who's there?" Frank asked.

"Who's asking?" Came the bodiless voice. It was so sinister, low, demonic, maybe somewhat reptilian.

"Frank, uh, Frank Darteth. I'm an admirer of the scenery," Frank answered.

"Really?"

"Yeah! It's great," Frank said.

"…Well…You're…different," the voice said.

"I guess you could say that," Frank said.

"This place doesn't awaken some sort of primal fear in you? There's nothing that makes you just shiver?"

"Of course, that's why I like it," Frank said, happy to explain.

"And the fact that you're being talked to by something you cant see? Why aren't you looking for a friend, someone making some sort of trap to frighten you?"

"No one ever comes here, and I've heard you for ages, slowly getting clearer, who could be so motivated to keep a prank up _that_ long?" Frank asked.

"Hmm, I see, say Frank?"

"Yeah?"

"Care to help a weary soul out?"

"Depends, what will benefit me from helping you?"

"Wow, the greedy type, are we? That's nothing less than I'd hope for, good, good. Yes, what do you want? Power? That I can grant you, if you'll trust me enough to help me first. Do this and I guarantee you that you will gain powers you could never dream of."

Frank was stunned by this, never had the old, 'I'll give you power should you help me" line been used on him. But then again, it was only in the movies, what could really go wrong? "I'm listening."

"I need you to follow the sound of my voice," it said as it wandered down a narrow pathway. Frank followed, what would he be like? Spiderman, Superman, Spawn? Any of those old comic book characters would be so awesome to become.

"So, are you like a ghost or something?" Frank asked.

"You could say that, but not for long," said the voice.

"Cool, what was your name?"

"Um,…Zack," came the answer.

"Cool!"

"Yes, cool," Zack said. "Before we arrive, I'll tell you that there is a simple method for ghosts like me to regain their bodies and live again, all you have to do is want it, have a desire for me to come through and I'll handle the rest."

"Sounds easy enough," Frank said.

"We're here."

"We are?" Frank looked around, the scenery hadn't changed, but for a little, now he was in the center of the ruined city, with the rubble of what had to be a tower only a few dozens of steps away. There were two curved spikes protruding from the ground.

"Do you see those spires?" Zack asked.

"Yeah."

"Stand in between them, and grasp them firmly, then, desire the power you want to have. Desire me giving you that power, put a picture of me in your mind, imagine what you want, just want me here, in the flesh, understand?"

Frank nodded and smiled, he jogged excitedly to the spires and grasped them and squeezed. Then he thought of flying, of being able to crush his enemies with ease. Then he thought of Zack giving him these abilities. How he would do this, he didn't know, but he was a ghost, not a human, he had to have some sort of strange ability.

The spires vibrated, and shook off the dust that had collected over them for so many years. "Whoa!"

"Yes! It's working!" Zach yelled.

The ground itself began to quake and crack, and Frank fought to keep his balance, and would have failed, had he not have been hanging on to the spires, which did not move. He willed it all stronger, and closed his eyes. He felt something just before his chest.

He opened his eyes and looked down, there was a white sphere before him about the size of his head. There was a single black dot in the center of the ball of light, but as Frank kept wanting what was coming, it kept growing.

Within seconds the ball had consumed half of the light. And within another moment it had engulfed all the light. Discharge spiked off the spires, and traveled about Frank, all over his body, and onto the black ball of energy.

Zack screamed out, not in pain, not in anger, but in effort, and just before a concussion threw Frank several yards away, he noticed that it had begun taking a shape.

He heard one final _BOOM_, and lifted up his heavy head. He beheld something that couldn't possibly be Zack. It was a tall creature, with chiseled muscles, still heaving as he gasped for breath. A black aura visibly radiated from him. Frank had unleashed some sort of demon, because that was DEFINITELY not a human.

There were two thick, slightly curved horns protruding from his ugly, dead blue forehead. His vile face was covered in blood red makeup outlining the jaw-line and eyebrows, giving the image of a wicked smile. He had guards over his obviously enormous shoulders, that had an eye sculpted into the center. His bulging biceps obviously had once been covered, but now those torn bandages hung from the forearm gauntlet that covered to his hands, and down his thumb, giving every joint a spike. A red jewel was imbedded in the middle of his chest, and muscles rippled up and down his entire torso, with the sides covered by a strong looking armor. His long upper legs were covered in a sort of sleeve that had a red infinity sign running down the front, leading into the armored knees and clawed feet.

Frank stood up, and backed away slowly, just as this demon revealed a few more inhuman traits. A thin tail ending in a knife sized blade cracked like a whip behind him. He was observing himself as well, as if he'd not expected to be as he was. He gripped his hands tightly, and the aura swelled. He bellowed out in a horrifying cry, and long, bat like wings stuck out and reached high above his head, he leapt into the air, and they began beating steadily, keeping him aloft. He looked about him, seeming unimpressed, until something caught his eye, he glared intensely in one direction, and Frank followed his gaze. There, pinned to a wall by a gigantic spike, was a human's skeleton, held together by the spike and the evil looking armor surrounding what used to be his flesh and blood body. Now the white, decayed head hung limply. The helmet that had worn itself on his head was on the ground. Frank would have observed it more closely, had he not been interrupted by an inhuman snarl.

The demon spat at the skeleton, and in the blink of an eye, born from black smoke that poured from its own hands, a sickle appeared. It was the length of the creature's body, and the hilt of the blade was made to resemble a wicked, frowning skull, its bottom jaw inches below the sharp end of the blade, down the shaft.

Not a second after the sickle appeared, the monster threw it at the skeleton with all its might, it cut through the air at an incredible speed, creating a screaming song as it flew. It struck the skeleton's torso armor right where the heart would be. The blow caused the entire wall to blow out in an incredible explosion. The monster flicked its wrist and the weapon returned to its wicked hand.

Frank had seen enough, he began walking away, very slowly, but his foot hit a pebble, and that small sound alone made him jump and cry out. He looked to the ground, then straight back up, staring eye to eye with that creature. It had such evil, soulless eyes. A gross yellow, with no irises, merely a red, cat-like slit. A smile opened on its hideous face, revealing sharp fangs where every human tooth would find itself. "Well, thank you very much. I was afraid I'd have to spend all this new energy freeing myself, it's a good thing you came around."

"Zack?" Frank yelped.

"Well, kind of, but my real, full name is Zachwell, Lord of Death," he said, holding that wicked smile a moment more, he looked at himself again, then back at Frank, and let out an evil cackle. His breath was rank and acrid, Frank stopped breathing until Zachwell looked away.

"Now, for my end of the bargain," Zachwell said to the unsuspecting human. He turned around and back fisted Frank hard. Frank was thrown from the ground, and saw his world spinning before he hit the ground and all went black.

* * *

He opened his eyes, not that it would do any good, all was black. Where was he? He wondered, for a brief moment, yet another question arose that was infinitely more important. _Who_ was he? What was going on? 

A door swung open, and in strode a creature that seemed familiar, but he couldn't place where. He waved a blue hand and several blue torches lit themselves.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Darteth, my name is Zachwell, your Lord and commander," said the creature.

"Darteth?" He asked. That name also struck some near-memory, but he couldn't place it, nor draw it out completely.

"Yes, Darteth, I have just discovered you, you are the solitary remnant of an ancient race that scourged the planet for centuries. However, Winglies and Humans, always trouble solvers, formed an alliance and managed to demolish your entire species. Somehow you survived, and had been laying here, comatose, unseen even by me here in Mayfil, the Death City, for so many years," Zachwell began.

"What? Scourged the planet? How?"

"You are the last of a race of…how to word it, soul reapers. Concentrate hard, do you not remember anything?" Zachwell asked.

"…No," Darteth answered sadly.

"Then allow me to help," Zachwell said, but he was smiling. He walked over, and placed his hand on Darteth's forehead. After a short moment, Darteth knew everything. He had seen himself, he carried a blade with a skull with bat wings- shaped hilt. He'd slaughtered so many, and he enjoyed it so, always taking their souls, and keeping them in his pouch until he could find a quiet, safe place to perform the day-long ritual to devour them. He remembered others like him, all standing together in lines, as the Humans advanced on them from the ground and the Winglies from the skies. They hadn't a chance against their forces! He'd fled, to his favorite spot, Mayfil, here! There he decided to petrify himself, until it was safe for him to emerge again. Oh, how he enjoyed cutting through his victims, the very memory of seeing their useless blood run from their wounds filled him with so much glee. As Zachwell let go, he smiled.

"Remember now?" He asked.

"Yes, I do," Darteth smiled, he let out a low laugh. "Where are my belongings?"

"Before I return them to you, I would have you serve me for returning you to life, and if you refuse, I will return you to the heap you were," Zachwell said.

"Why would I refuse?" Darteth said happily.

"Good," Zachwell said, he smiled and handed Darteth his sword, and a pouch that clipped onto the belt. It was encrusted with various jewels, and diamonds, that produced an eerie glow. Darteth recalled being a child, learning that the combination of these stones made a barrier that not even an intangible soul could escape. He stood, and Zachwell smiled. "And for your services, I'll aid you with your wardrobe." He put forth his hand and black smoke billowed out and engulfed Darteth. It stayed for a moment, but when it dissipated, his chest was covered in golden armor, shaped as a fanged skull that wrapped around his body, and the upper jaw covered his abdomen. He had no shoulder guards, but it gave him free movement of the arms to wield his sword. He had a black hood over his head that fell down over his eyes, yet he saw everything he needed to through it. His shin guards were of thick steel, leading to metallic boots. Lastly, there were gauntlets on his arms that spiked at every joint of every finger, and came to points on the end. He smiled.

"Now for your first order," Zachwell said.

"Give it, I'm ready," Darteth said.

"Indeed you are. I have been trapped in that horrid world of light for eighteen years, and there is only one being alive that can assume the responsibility, it is time to give it to him. He is one of the Dragon Knights, and the strongest Dragon aids him, the Divine Dragon. That energy alone should lead you to him. Find him. Kill his friends, kill his family. Devour their souls, and bring him to me, and if it aids you at all, his name is Sean Mcmann, go!" Zachwell ordered.

Darteth spread his own bat-like wings and shot out the door and into the night sky, cackling all the way. "And now, Sean, the final terrible events of your miserable life begin to unfold. Come to me, enraged, and try to defeat me. You cannot possibly know my rage for your accursed mother in law shunning me to the light world. However, that which does not kill you makes you stronger. I will torture you for eternity for what has been done to me, it's only a matter of time," Zachwell said, watching Darteth fly away. When he was gone from even Zachwell's keen night eyes, he turned and reentered the dark. "Mayfil, it is time to awaken, one final time."

The city hummed to life, and a protective barrier was placed around it, making it impossible to detect that the Death City had resumed its disgusting duties.

Author's Note: Hey there! Spike speaking, thanks so much for all the reviews everyone, we're truly grateful. Archangel's on vacation, and now it's my turn to haul a story to the net. Did you like the first chapter? Please review!

Now, for an announcement concerning Prince of Darkness: The reason I disagreed with Archangel about placing it on the internet is because the main villain throughout the lengthy story is none other than Zackwell….again.

I disagreed with this because I feel if he's gonna show up AGAIN you guys might get sick of him, I mean here he is, and you might be sick of him now. This story's finished, however. Changes have been made that will portend to a serious amount of tweeking on Archangel's behalf. The offer I made him was that if I could tell you that the main villain would yet again be Zackwell, and you all still wanted the story on the net, then I was all for it. We don't want to make anyone angry or disappointed. There's the announcement, oh, and we're not spoiling anything either, Zackwell will be introduced in the first chapter of that story as well, so we aren't giving anything extraordinary away.

As you read the story, please keep your opinion known whether you want Prince of Darkness up. Thanks again, and I'll see y'all next chapter!


	2. The Bottle's Interruption

Chapter Two: The Bottle's Interruption

Another brown glass bottle was thrown into the trash can, joining the building amount. The hand that had cast it then reached for another bottle, and its mirrored twin pulled it open. Sean Mcmann took a few swigs, and staggered back to his ragged sofa. He'd pulled it up from the basement storage room. He realized just after she'd left that she owned most of their furniture. He'd rid himself of the pictures, there'd never be a use for any of them anymore.

He tried to find something on the television, but it was as though there wasn't meant to be anything more than commercials, nothing was supposed to happen except Sean being left alone with his doubt, with his sadness. The memory came back again, and no matter how many bottles he'd downed, it only came back stronger.

He laid his head back, there was no use in resisting any longer. He saw Melissa's eyes, angry, and he didn't care. All the times he'd said he'd loved her he'd wasted, his pride, his stupid, foolish pride, that's what it had been.

Across the room on the shelf, the Divine Dragon's spirit shimmered, but Sean waved it off. He was also to blame, he'd molded Sean. He'd made him grow so proud, so _strong_, and now, everything that he TRULY held dear was gone, leaving footprints all across his broken heart. But he wouldn't say anything to anyone; just hopefully his liver would quit.

The Dragoons had separated. There was no more use, a few years after Adam's incident, most of the evils of the world had just seemed to quit, there was nothing left for them to defend the humans against. They'd gone their separate ways, exactly what was to be expected.

Sean and Melissa had been so happy, why did it get screwed up? Why did his pride and strength have to be the one thing that caused him his pain? Here he was, yet again confessing to himself that it was his fault she was gone. Yet he knew that he couldn't ever tell anyone that.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and he was sure to lay his head down before they spilled over his cheeks. He turned his face and bellowed into the pillow, as loud as he could.

His chest was completely hollow. And it ached so much. Some part of Sean knew it would never stop, never. He would spend the rest of his life spending his nights like this. He would not have the luck of his friends, Ben and Brad, nor his father, oh, and not to mention Robert and Mike, Robert married his high school sweetheart Marian, the Wingly who'd knocked him a good one, and Mike was almost ready to propose to his college girlfriend, Jennifer Coelly.

Sean was happy for them, but at times when his pain was so intense he merely thought it spiteful. Hadn't he earned happiness? Had he not risked his life so many times to save the human race? Was there no hidden player that no one could see that rewarded the great deeds of the world's heroes? He finished the bottle, and stood up again when the next commercial came on. The picture he'd seen so many times before this night alone was different.

Standing in the way of his alcohol, his only pain numbing substance, was a cloaked figure, standing in the middle of his room, Sean hadn't heard him even come in. Had he been there when Sean had broken down and screamed? "Who are you?" Sean demanded, in a stupid, slurred voice. Suddenly, he realized he'd drank too much, his balance shifted, and his vision blurred.

"My name is Darteth, Dragoon, and I am the instrument of your humiliation. Call your friends to you, call them to their dooms, at my hands," Darteth said. Sean was drunk, he was fairly certain these words would anger him.

Sean was dumbfounded, this man was talking as though he were completely superior, what arrogance! "Look! Get out of my home, before I make you eat those words, slowly."

Darteth chuckled. His cloak was over his eyes, so all Sean could see was his ghostly pale-blue lower face. His wings were wrapped about him, giving the illusion of a raincoat stretching down to his knees. His golden shin guards were exposed, but it made no difference, Sean didn't seem to notice at all.

Sean took one unbalanced step forward. "Get….out…of my house."

Darteth laughed openly now, Sean's frown grew from ignorantly annoyed to furious. "What are you laughing at?" He started running at Darteth, but he merely staggered, and Darteth used no effort in avoiding several punches from the inebriated man. Sean grew angrier and angrier as his punches missed more and more. Finally Darteth grew tired and caught Sean's fist.

"Without your power you are nothing but a human, no match for me," he said, and squeezed. Sean screamed as the bones in his hands struggled to stay together. "Call your friends, and come find me in the Death Frontier." He threw Sean's fist away and struck him in the face with the back of his hand, Sean was lifted from the ground and spun with the force, his eyes last sight saw Darteth leaving through the front door, and then blackness as his head struck the wooden floor.

_Now they come to me,_ Darteth thought. He took to the skies and headed for the Death Frontier.

* * *

Sean's eyes fluttered open, and the light from the open windows nearly blinded him, not to mention worsened the throbbing headache that erupted when he was fully conscious. He crawled to the bathroom, and looked at himself in the mirror. There was a dark bruise forming on his right cheek, only half hidden by his brown hair that now stretched to just under his jaw. His eyes had bags under them, he looked miserable. But now he was sober, and fully aware of what was going on.

He picked up the phone and looked to the list of his comrade's names. And began dialing.

Ben Freeman and his beautiful wife Christie were wrapped in their warm covers, and held each other in their arms, leaning their foreheads together as they slept peacefully. After their son Mark Freeman had finally stopped crying every night they had learned how to fully appreciated sleep. They were doing just this as the phone rang.

Once, then twice the ring went off, Ben and Christie opened their eyes in unison. "I'd better get that," Ben said, and began to roll over. However, Christie held her grip tighter, and pulled him back.

"No, let the machine get it," she said. Ben smiled, and peered into his eyes, wondering yet again how he could be so lucky. He leaned in and gave Christie another kiss, the kiss he would never grow tired of. It filled him with a warmth, such a full feeling of love for his wife that the ringing of the phone seemed to just drown away.

They pulled closer together, as the answering machine caught it.

"Hi there! This is Ben Freeman."

"And Christie Freeman!"

"And we're not here right now! Sorry to disappoint you, but we will get back to you if you leave a short message and your name and number, talk to you soon!" _Click._

"Ben?" Came Sean's tired voice. "Ben are you there?"

Ben and Christie's eyes shot open, they hadn't talked to Sean in ages. Ben threw off the covers and this time Christie made no move to stop him, they both got out of bed and turned on the speaker phone.

"Sean! Man! How long has it been?" Ben asked happily.

"It's good to hear from you, what's up?" Christie said.

"…"

"…Sean?" Ben said, feeling the reluctance in the silence.

"Guys, last night I was attacked by something, something powerful, and he knocked me a good one. But he wasn't even trying. Please come to my house. I think we all need to talk."

Ben and Christie looked to each other in shock. They hadn't expected anything else to pose a problem for the rest of their lives. Was this really happening?

"Sure Sean, we'll be over in a few minutes," Ben said.

"Thanks, oh and Ben?" Sean asked.

"Yeah?"

"Could you….call Melissa for me?" Sean asked, sounding defeated.

"…Yeah, sure pal," Ben said, lowering his eyes, saying goodbye, and shutting off the phone. Christie called a babysitter, and while they were waiting, Ben called Melissa's new home.

"… ... … Hello?"

"Melissa?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, it's Ben."

"Oh! Hey! How are you?"

"I'm fine, so are Christie and Mark, and yourself?"

"Oh, I'm okay."

"That's good," Ben said, now unsure of what to say.

"So why'd you call?"

"Um, well to be blunt, Sean was attacked by something last night, and he says he packed a wallop, he wants us to go to his house and have a meeting," Ben said. He heard Melissa gasp.

"Um, okay, I'll go… is he okay?"

"Yeah, he just called us a minute ago," Ben said.

"Oh, I see, well figures he wouldn't call me himself."

"Hey now, let's not start something, he needs us," Ben said. After a moment of silence, Melissa spoke up again.

"Yeah, you're right, I'll come, bring my spirit and sword right?"

"I'm guessing."

"Okay, see you soon."

"Alright, bye."

"Bye."

"… … Yeah?" Came Robert's voice, panting.

"Rob? It's Sean."

"HEY!"

"There's been an incident, I need our group to come to my house for an emergency meeting, can you get away from your wife for a while?" Sean said.

"Um….I think so, I'll be over in a few minutes, is everything okay?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit, bye."

"Bring your things, bye."

"… Hello?"

"Brittany?"

"Sean?"

"Yeah, is Brad with you?"

"Yeah, he's right here….why?"

"I need you both to come to my home right now, can you get here?"

"Yeah, I think so, what's wrong?"

"…I got attacked last night, by something powerful, and I need your help, please bring your spirits and gear."

"Okay, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Sean said quickly.

"Okay, see you in a bit."

"Bye."

"… … … … …Hey! Mike Edwards here to say, I'm either not here or I don't wanna talk to you, so leave a message and maybe I'll get back to you later."

Sean rolled his eyes when the beep came, Mike had gotten caller I.D. a few weeks earlier and since the fight with Melissa, Mike pretty much refused to acknowledge Sean's existence.

"Mike I know you're there, you don't have to pick up if you don't want to, but last night I was attacked by something, something powerful, and I've been calling everyone to come here to my house for a meeting. I know you're angry at me but you'd better put that aside, we need you for this enemy. He wasn't even trying and he creamed me. So bring your spirit and axe to my home, its reunion time."

Sean hung up and the message ended with a beep. Mike uncrossed his arms, deleted the message, put on his shoes and gathered his gear. He hopped into his car, and took off for Sean's house.

Sean hung up the phone, glad to be done with that phone call. He turned to the bookshelf on which he'd placed his television, a few pictures, hundreds of old books, and his Divine Dragoon Spirit.

He picked it up and instantly the Divine Dragon's voice was in his head. _Stop this! You are being pathetic! My bearer cannot fall into a pit of self-loathing. Sean, she's gone, you must tak_e _responsibility._

"I cant, mind your own business," Sean said.

_Fine, fine. You'll realize it eventually on your own. You did do the right thing in calling your friends, this enemy is incredibly powerful. You'll need all their help, you'd better hope and pray that they all come._

"I'll think about doing that," Sean said dismissively.

_Sean, you think I don't know how you feel, but our bond is stronger than you know, just because I am on this bookshelf doesn't mean I don't know what goes on in your heart and mind. You love her, you know that right?_

"Stop, just….Stop okay?" Sean said, choking, his tears blurred his vision and his face strained to keep from crying.

_…Alright, but you wont be able to run from your heart forever._ And then the Divine Dragon was silent. Sean sat down on the recliner and rubbed his eyes and temples until the first ring of the doorbell came.

Author's Note: And so the Dragoons are called together again, but what happened that set them all so far apart? Find out…..eventually….as the story continues to unfold. Thank you so much for all the reviews, please keep it up! Until next chapter, Later!


	3. Confrontation and Regret

Chapter Three: Confrontation and Regret

Sean opened the door to find Robert Williams standing on his doorstep. "Wow, you got here quick," he said.

"It's probably because I keep my spear in my truck bed," Rob said. Sean looked to see a pickup truck with a color of green that matched his armor, with black leather strapped over his bed, hiding his spear.

Rob put out a hand and Sean shook it. "It's been a while," Rob said. "Why haven't we been keeping up like in the old days?"

"…I don't know," Sean said, and it was right then Robert caught the strong smell of alcohol on his breath, and it was strong. Rob knew that Sean and Melissa had had a horrible fight, but was it so bad that Sean was drinking himself to sleep every night?

His first reaction was to say something, but something stopped him, maybe his own knowledge that Sean didn't talk about his problems, maybe a feeling he got from the Jade Dragon. He kept his mouth shut, certain that it would be wiser to talk with the others first.

"Uh, have a seat, if you want," Sean offered. He got out of the way and Rob walked in, looking around.

"Wow, this place is bare," Rob said, no reply came, and when he looked to Sean for at least a silent explanation, he found Sean's eyes downcast, looking sorrowful. He knew he'd said something wrong. He shut his mouth and sat on the couch.

Another knock sounded out, and Sean left to answer it. It was Ben and Christie. Ben and Sean shook hands and Christie gave Sean a hug. "How are you?"

"We're fine, so is Mark," Ben answered.

Sean smiled, and nodded. "Well, come on in, Rob's already here."

They sat in awkward silence until the next knock came, Brad and Brittany stepped in, looking happy. "Hey everyone!" Brittany said.

They said their hellos and Sean had them sit down. Brad stuck back by him for a moment.

"What got at you last night?"

"Something I've never seen before," Sean answered.

"Wow, that's bad," Brad said.

"Yeah, it is, but I'm sure we can handle it," Sean said.

Brad nodded and shook Sean's hand. "It's good to see you again."

"Same here."

Brad sat down and Sean answered another knock. There on the porch, looking unhappy to be there, was Mike. He and Sean stared at each other, each slightly surprised that he'd come, and finally, Sean broke the silence. "Come in, have a seat."

Mike stepped in. The air of the place struck him as familiar, somehow. He hadn't visited, nor talked to Sean since the fight. Melissa had been so miserable, no one knew that like he did. And it was all Sean's fault. Mike stepped by the dresser at the side of the room, and he suddenly knew the air, the smell. He saw the empty case of beer, and the trash can, half full of bottles.

This picture, this air, reminded him all too well of his father. He looked to Sean, with a look of pure fury in his eyes. "We need to talk, outside."

Sean looked slightly confused, but nodded and walked out back with Mike. They stepped out onto the deck, and as soon as the door was closed, Mike turned to face him eye to eye.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"What are you talking about?" Sean asked.

"I saw the trash can, all that BETTER not have been from last night," Mike said.

"…Why should you care?" Sean said.

"Because you _almost_ became my brother in law. Because you have been my friend for nearly ten years! Because you were, and still are the single most important part of my sister's life!" Mike spat.

Sean was shocked. "What?"

"You have no idea how miserable she is, but you, and her! I cant break her, but maybe I can help you. Look, I KNOW you remember what happened to my father when he tried to drink his pain away. HE DIED! And you will too, I'm warning you, right now, stop that," Mike said.

"…Mind your own," Sean said.

Mike leaned back, and looked at Sean as though with different eyes. "You know what?"

"What?"

"People do change, you used to be a friggin roll model for all of us. A character of such strength, integrity, and selfless to boot. But now, look at you, you look like that's all gone, nothing's here but a hollow empty shell. Maybe I was wrong in coming here, you're not the Sean we all used to know, you're something else, something much, MUCH weaker," he said, shaking his head and stepping back inside. Sean leaned back against the wall, and slid down it, until he was sitting, with his forehead in his hands.

* * *

While they were talking, outside, Rob took his chance to speak. "Okay, did anyone else notice Sean's breath?" He asked.

Everyone nodded, "But, that could just be from last night," Christie said.

Brad shook his head. "No, it takes a lot of time for it to get _that _bad."

"Why'd he do that?" Brittany said.

"…He asked me to call Melissa for him," Ben said.

"How could Sean be so depressed though?" Robert asked.

They stayed silent, pondering, they looked out the window together when they heard Mike yell something, but then a knock came at the door, Ben opened it to find Melissa.

"Hey," Ben said.

"Hi, what's wrong?" Melissa asked.

Ben looked to his comrades, but they shook their heads. "…Nothing, don't worry about it, how have you been?"

"I'm surviving," she said with a smile.

She walked in and Mike came inside, without Sean. Something had happened, everyone guessed, as Mike slammed the door on his way inside.

"What happened?" Melissa asked. Mike stopped for a moment to hug his sister and say hello before he answered.

"Nothing, nothing at all," he said, he steered clear of the trash can, praying that Melissa wouldn't find it. They all sat down, and remained uneasily silent until Sean finally opened the door and walked in.

"So what was with this guy?" Ben asked.

"I haven't a clue, to be honest," Sean said, in his mind, he thanked Ben, he could tell Ben knew something was up, but respected Sean well enough to let him deal with it, unlike Mike.

_I think Mike's the one doing the right thing, Sean._

Sean rolled his eyes and resumed. "I have to ask, how has everyone been keeping up with their skills?"

Everyone gave their answer, they'd all been keeping up pretty well, which Sean was thankful for. However, he had slacked in the last few weeks or so, unmotivated to do anything to keep in shape, but he felt as though he would regain it all soon enough.

"This guy wants us all to come at him at once, he doesn't know what he's asking for, he could be one of the last great dark powers left in the world. We beat him, we set yet another example that the human race is unbeatable. I hope this is the last time I have to pull you all from your lives," Sean said.

"Hey, we made the decision to be what we are a long, LONG time ago," Ben said.

"Yeah," Brad said.

"We swore an oath, not to a country, but to our species, to protect it, or give our lives trying," Christie said.

Sean smiled. "And I thought it'd be hard to persuade you guys to leave the normal life again. Thanks."

Every one of them nodded their welcomes, even Mike, however reluctant.

"Okay, who's up for a long hike through difficult woods?" Sean said.

They all got up and headed outside. They walked quickly into the woods. Sean had earlier fallen in love with their training clearing, and chose a home near it. It was truly perfect for them all.

They fought their way through the wicked underbrush, and finally came back to this magnificent place, whereat they had gained so much power, and a bond of friendship that they thought couldn't be broken.

"So many memories," Melissa said, her eyes cloudy.

Sean looked to her, it was the first thing she'd said around him the entire time, he peered into those dark eyes, wondering what she was thinking, if she was remembering fun, or anything else…

"Everyone have what they need?" Sean asked. Each Dragoon held up their weapon and their spirits shined. "Okay, thirty minutes to get ready, and then we're outta here."

* * *

Brad and Brittany walked to the lake to stretch out stiff joints, Robert and Mike began lightly sparring, to awaken Rob's speed and Mike's strength. Melissa and Christie worked together in close combat, Melissa with her rapier and Christie with two hardened arrows. Ben cracked his joints, and loosened up, he wanted to ask Sean to warm up with him, but Sean walked off alone.

"Well isn't that an all to familiar sight," Ben whispered to himself. "Just like when we first met you, what's going on inside your head?"

Sean looked to the sky, feeling the old energy still running through him. The Death Frontier was to the North, and a darkness seemed to mix with the air over the distant lands. It was no trick of the day either, the sun was high in the sky. Something unloving of light had gathered ominous, dark clouds over the Death Frontier. That something was doubtlessly Darteth.

Before he knew it, thirty minutes had past, and Sean felt energized for the first time in weeks. Ben clapped his hands, snapping Sean back to reality. He looked back to his companions, his friends.

"Let's go," he said.

There was a flash of indigo, green, red, white, gold, blue, violet, and silver as the embodiments of the seven elements, darkness, wind, fire, light, earth, water, and electricity swarmed through every vein, every muscle, every pour of the eight Dragoons. They were engulfed, for the first time in months, by the power of dragons. Armor with the strength of dragon scales swarmed and covered their bodies, wings burst from their backs, and a reptilian eye opened on each chest.

Six wings appeared on Sean's back as well, though he was still on low power.

_I recommend that you upgrade to full power when we arrive at the Death Frontier, this enemy worries me._ The Divine Dragon advised. Sean nodded, and they took off. Eight streaks shot up above the clouds and started north.

The flight was silent, and stretched into the night, Sean had pulled ahead, with his arms crossed. Brad and Brittany held hands and flew alongside Ben and Christie, who held each other's hands as well. Mike flew below them, watching the city lights move by below. Melissa, on the other hand flew higher up, above all the clouds, watching the night sky, flying with her back facing the earth, and her eyes belonged to the stars. She still took trips up to see the night sky even in the present days. They always cheered her up, somehow. She was unaware that someone's eyes were upon her yet again.

Sean had turned his head to see her in the corner of his eye, he watched her for a while, at peace, watching the stars. She loved them so much. She truly was everything important to him. She couldn't want to be with him again, not after what was said. Not after the fight. A tear welled up in his eyes, and he wiped it from his eye as he turned away, the wind took it and threw it behind him. It landed on Melissa's hand, she looked at it, and then in front of her.

_What was that?_ She wondered. She studied around her for a moment, and was fairly certain that it couldn't rain above the clouds, so what had happened? She shrugged it off and continued viewing the stars, thinking. She remembered one very special time she'd been up above the clouds. She'd been with Sean for the first time after they'd destroyed Melbu Frahma, and he'd stroked her face with his hand. Suddenly a sadness filled her with its emptiness, and she shook her head to remove the memory. As usual, it didn't work. She flew up a little higher, to weep silently.

* * *

Hours later, as the sun began to rise, the Dragoons touched down on the Death Frontier, a desolate wasteland that stretched as far as the eye could see, and then some.

Sean looked around, "I have a hunch he'll come to us."

"Let him," Rob said, who fell into a sit, and then lay down and looked to the sky, as the unsettled dust around him began falling back down. They all sat down or lied down and took a breather, hoping that the enemy wouldn't attack.

From a distance, undetected, Darteth stood, solitary, comfortable, he would let them rest, the best soul was a lively one. He wanted to steal their souls when they were at their peak. Oh, how he would feast! Yes, he would wait until nightfall.

The Dragoons eventually let their armor leave them and rested their true bodies, drinking water, and taking naps in turn. The sun passed over them, in its usual arc. Sean left for a while and brought back some beasts for a meal, which Ben cooked and handed out to the rest. The sun finally set, and they were fed and rested. Darteth knew it would be the ideal time to attack them.

He spread his wings and was above them in a flash. Melissa was the first to look up, sensing something moving around in her domain. "Something's here!" She said. Everyone stood and transformed, and readied their weapons.

Darteth laughed. "Ah, yes! Thank you Sean, for bringing your friends to me, to their end!"

Sean's eyes narrowed, and he called upon all of the Divine Dragon's power. The light surrounded him, and transformed him into the Divine Dragoon. Seven eyes opened in his thick torso armor, and his legs stretched out almost double their old length. Six golden wings beat as they emerged. His cannon arm swelled up immediately, and fired into the air. Darteth was illuminated, but was not engulfed by the deadly magic. The beam shot harmless into the stratosphere, and out into space. Darteth folded his wings and he fell down into the center of them. He put a hand down on the earth, as well as a knee, and arched his back. He threw his wings out, and knocked the Dragoons about him to the ground.

Sean burst forward with his sword, and locked up with Darteth's blade. They eyed each other up, yet Darteth won, with his malevolent eyes. They were all black, all but the irises, which were blood red.

He threw Sean back, and laughed. "Have I won already? How did my race fall to Humans and Winglies? Here of all places!" He threw his arms out, and looked about him. "How?"

"Sean!" Mike said. "What is he talking about?"

"I don't know! Nothing's ever lived here, and humans and Winglies never allied to demolish a species, not once," Sean answered.

"Oh, it was long ago, but let us not speak of it, it is time for vengeance, time for redemption, time to run, time to scream, time to die!" Darteth said. He leapt up and drew his blade, eyes gleaming.

Author's Note: Hey everybody! Sorry about the long wait, complications with work and such. Whatcha think? Sorry but we love cliffhangers…so the more reviews we get the quicker we'll update. Welp, got to get back to writing, so see y'all later!


	4. The Seven Tragedies

Chapter Four: The Seven Tragedies

Mike jumped up quickly and pointed to the sky with his axe. "Meteor Strike!" The sky turned orange, and several meteors began falling down with incredible speed. None of the Dragoons were in any danger, yet Darteth was forced to dodge each and every flaming ball of rock until the barrage stopped.

When the sky returned to its night black, he smiled down, but Melissa was right before him, and he barely thwarted the stab she threw at him. Ben threw a fireball, and tried to dash at him, but Darteth deflected it and it flew back towards Brittany, who dodged it.

Brad planted a violent punch that threw Darteth back for a moment, but as Brittany readied to smash his head and send him plummeting to the earth, he flipped behind himself and kicked her in the face.

Sean fired a small barrage of the Divine Dragon Ball attack, giving the team time to head in for a close combat fight. He then dashed at Darteth too.

Darteth deflected a rapier, hopped over a spear, parried a katana, dodged two punches and blocked a kick to the ribs, faked out a Claymore, ducked under a large mallet and flipped around an axe swing. Yet as her turned a white arrow caught his arm.

"AAAAHHGH!" he bellowed, the flesh around the wound began smoldering as the light element seared it. He ripped it out, enraged. He lunged forward as Christie's bow twanged and he caught it. The next thing she knew, he was right before her.

"That wont happen again. Hm…interesting armor, makes my job all the easier," he said. His right hand suddenly disappeared, and he plunged the empty space into Christie's stomach. The battlefield suddenly froze, at the sound of Christie's agonized scream. No one dared move as Christie clawed weakly at Darteth's gauntlet, trying to pull free. Suddenly her face went blank, and Darteth pulled his arm out of her stomach. His hand reappeared, holding a fiery sphere, with a white glow to it. He placed it into the jeweled pouch at his side.

Christie, in the mean time, lost her armor and began falling towards the ground. "CHRISTIE!" Ben bellowed. He dove down and caught her a mere foot or two from hitting the ground. "Christie?" He spoke weakly. Here gaze and face were blank, and her eyes were incredibly dilated, the pupils were gone. Ben settled to the ground, and knelt to set Christie down. He looked to the spirit. "Help her," he coughed, trying not to cry. "Help her!"

_She's trying, Ben, but it isn't doing anything, there's nothing to help, just the body, he took her soul._ The Red Eyed Dragon said, remorseful.

Ben let go and fell back, in disbelief. He put his hand over his mouth, and gasps came as he still attempted not to cry.

Finally, the tears overwhelmed him and he cried out in sorrow. The rest of the Dragoons snapped back to reality, and glared at the satisfied Darteth. "One down," he said, and laughed.

"You!" Robert said, and without a word, fired a wing blaster at him, but the windy bird had little affect. Darteth's laughter was still heard over the gales, loud and clear. They all began attacking him again.

Ben had picked up his wife, ignoring the peril of his friends. Why should it matter? His love, Christie was gone. He held her head against his chin, and spoke a quiet prayer. Yet as the seconds past, something began replacing the sorrow, something fiery. He kissed his wife's head, and set her down gently, and walked several yards away from her.

"That monster will pay, and I'll get you back, Christie," He said. "Get out of the way!" He roared. He gripped his sword tightly in both hands, and from the bottom of his boots, a fire rushed up and twisted around him, engulfing him in one giant flame. The battlefield was now lit up with firelight. The Dragoons all retreated to the side, but Darteth stayed in place.

The fire grew, sporadically, it doubled in size, again and again, and then, when Ben's anger had peaked, and his adrenaline was pumping its hardest, he pushed off the ground with all his strength, leaving a smoldering crater on his wake. With unthinkable speed, he launched himself at Darteth. "FINAL BURST!" He bellowed, and stuck his sword out in front of him, the fire around him took the shape of the Red Eyed Dragon, and Darteth's smile faded away. He put up his sword to block the oncoming attack, and did so just in time, as Ben's sword struck his, and Darteth was pushed back. Ben pushed harder, tears streaming from his face, and evaporating in the heat.

He didn't care, what was the point of conserving energy? He could just die with this attack, and join his wife, right? He pushed harder, and harder, and Darteth's effort had to increase as his blade began to weaken under the strain of the Final Burst.

Ben finally decided to end it, they were far from his friends. He let the energy leave him, in one, massive explosion. He relaxed, suddenly more fatigued than he'd ever felt in his entire life. All he saw in the swirling blaze around him, however, was a hand, coming at him.

The Dragoons waited for the explosion to stop, for a full minute it continued on, nearly blinding anyone who watched. However, they all were shocked to see, when the light finally died, a smoldering Darteth, holding Ben's face, tightly. His claws dug into the skin on Ben's face, and Ben was making no move to stop him. His grip weakened to the point where he just let go of his sword, and let it drop the hundreds of feet to stick into the ground, hilt up. Darteth gave a yank, and pulled out another fiery ball, with a red glow, and placed it in the pouch. He grabbed Ben's body, and tossed it down to the Dragoons.

"He was strong, but not strong enough," Darteth, yet he was bluffing somewhat. He hadn't expended too much energy, but his blade was weak, another attack like that, would shatter it. He had to be quick about the rest of them. "Let us finish this," he said.

He rushed down and slashed at Brad, who protected himself with his gauntlets, but a kick to the stomach forced him to hunch over. Darteth pushed back, grabbed Brittany's mallet, and pulled her close and beat Brad in the face with it. He grabbed both of their necks, and concentrated hard as he squeezed. They beat on his elbows, trying to weaken his hold, but he merely squeezed tighter, in seconds of dodging Sean, Melissa, Rob, and Mike, they finally passed out, and with that, he pulled their blue and violet souls from their bodies and put them in the pouch. Sean and Mike caught their falling bodies, and rushed them to the ground, then fired magic up at Darteth, forcing him to leave Melissa and Rob alone until they returned.

The next few minutes were a flurry of blades, every slash, stab, or swipe contacting only metal, not flesh. Rob stabbed again and again and again, not worrying about his slowly increasing exhaustion. Mike swung again and again, but feared that if Darteth would give one magic attack, that he'd be the next one to perish. Melissa stabbed and swiped, cutting the air, but not piercing Darteth's vile defenses. Sean used every trick he knew, but nothing worked on Darteth's speedy reflexes.

Darteth was not tiring in the least, he could go on fighting for days, he smiled the whole time while he noticed his opponents' attacks slowing and weakening.

Suddenly, the Dragoons flew back and Sean fired a cannon blast, shocking Darteth, he tried to beat his wings, and the plan of the Dragoons was revealed. Melissa sliced a long cut into every joint of Darteth's right wing, and Rob repeated the same tactic on his left wing. He began falling, and used dark magic to guard his face from the cannon beam. The momentum sent him spinning, towards the earth, where Mike was waiting.

Darteth finally decided what to do, and stopped attempting to halt spinning. _Finally something tricky._ He thought. He pulled his blade secretly, and just as Mike was about to strike him, Darteth stuck the blade out and the momentum knocked Mike onto his back, dazed.

Darteth stood up, and stepped on Mike's neck. He reached down and put the hand into Mike's head. He ripped out violently, and Mike's body jerked. Darteth looked to the golden fireball, and licked his lips as he placed it in his pouch.

Darteth couldn't fly anymore, but there were only two Dragoons left to steal from, then he merely had to knock out Sean and deliver him to Zachwell, and he would feast for an entire weak on seven of the strongest souls in the world.

He smiled as they flew down to him, Rob arrived first, panting visibly. He stabbed, and Darteth grabbed the spear, pulled it to wrench Rob off balance, and spun around behind him, pulling the spear with him to choke Rob. Rob's wheezes were entertaining, but Darteth was growing weary of this battle, he stuck his hand into Rob's ear, for sport and pulled the jade soul out of its vessel, and put it in the pouch before dropping the body to the ground.

"No!" Sean bellowed. He launched at Darteth, and slashed, which Darteth parried, and beat Sean aside. Sean flew into a rock formation nearby, and several boulders fell around him, pinning him to the ground.

Darteth turned to Melissa, "So, Darkness Dragoon, you're the only one left, feeling alone?" He chuckled.

Melissa glared at him, rapier at the ready. "You wont get away with this," she said through gritted teeth. She was trying to be strong, but the fear of what had happened to her friends, and her brother was shaking her inside.

"I've gotten away with it, oh," he began, then pointed to Ben, and to Christie, and so on, saying "one, two, three, four, five, and six times, already." He laughed. They were silent for a tense moment, until he spoke up again. "And here comes seven!"

He rushed at her, and swung down on her block, strong enough to knock the blade away from Melissa's hands. She fell back and cried out, holding her trembling hand. Darteth grabbed her hair and picked her up by it. Melissa abandoned her strength, and her fear showed very clearly in her eyes as Darteth raised his hand. She found herself thinking one though as Darteth reached into her body and closed his invisible hands over her previously intangible soul. _Sean will save me._

Sean burst up from the boulders, roaring. He looked to Darteth, and forgot his anger instantly. He had Melissa! Sean was dumbstruck, what would he do? Had he gotten her? Oh, no, no, no, no…

He pulled the soul from her body, and she cried out, but it was cut off. Sean's eyes widened, he felt nothing, not a single though went through his head. He was in total and utter shock.

_Sean! Do something!_ The Divine Dragon roared.

She was gone, Melissa was gone, Sean watched, jaw dropped as Darteth put the indigo soul into his pouch. "Seven down, now I only have to take you to my master," he said.

_Sean! SEAN! Kill him!_ The Divine Dragon roared.

Gone, gone, gone…

Darteth threw her lifeless body to Sean's feet. "What?" He asked. "Did this one mean something special to you?"

Sean knelt down and propped her head on his cannon, and touched her face, gently, as though she would shatter and fall away from him. Memories flew through his head. The dance, the night they spent in the sky after Melbu Frahma's defeat, fighting for her, her moving in, it was all gone, gone with her. Now, sure to never return.

"Yes, feel the pain," Darteth said. "Your friends' souls are mine, and I will devour them slowly, savoring every last bit of them."

Tear drops fell onto Melissa's face, but Sean wasn't sobbing, the tears just fell from his eye. How could he have let this happen to her? Her of all people? He'd redeem it, he'd avenge her, he WOULD.

Sean stood up, with tears still running from his face. "You, sick, sadistic, thing." He breathed. "You'll pay, oh, you'll pay."

"What's that?" Darteth said, smiling. "I'll pay?"

Sean's cannon swelled to a greater size than ever before, white electric discharge spiked all around his body, but gathered in greatest amount around the mouth of his cannon, and his shoulder. He had a plan, but he would only have one chance.

"Divine Dragon Cannon!" Sean bellowed, he turned his arm sideways, and pointed to the left, and let the recoil push the beam from left to right, giving Darteth no room to dodge, only jump. He did leap, up high, and Sean initiated the second part of his final plan. "Divine Dragon Ball!" The panel flew open and unleashed hundreds of fireballs into the sky.

Darteth's wings were unable to keep him flying. He couldn't even dodge the barrage coming at him, he'd made an incredible mistake. One fireball struck him, and it burned like a thousand fires. Then another hit him, and another, one to the chest, another to the leg, two to each arm, and one to the face. Darteth cried out. The pain was so intense, and it kept coming. When it finally stopped, he fell to the ground, and saw Sean flying at him, with a trail of dust flying in his wake, unsettled by the force of his speed. He picked up his sword, and Darteth drew his, Sean swung down on it with a force that matched Ben's Final Burst.

The blade bent, cracked, and shattered, and Darteth's eyes widened, and viewed the blade coming down on him, right between his eyes.

Darteth's body turned to smoke that settled into the ground, and Sean stood, watching it until only the armor remained. And the pouch. Sean's eyes began rolling into the back of his head. He fell to his knees, and onto his chest, coughing at the dust that was entering his nostrils as he tried to breathe. Yet something did awaken a strength in him, he saw the shimmering jewels of the pouch that Darteth had placed the Dragoons' souls in. He crawled over to them, and opened the pouch, hopefully the souls would find their way to their owners.

Sean was disappointed yet again. The souls floated around aimlessly, stupid, it would seem, or blind, and unaware of where they were. He closed the pouch around them, and latched it shut. He rolled onto his back. _Well…what now?_ Sean wondered.

_Ulara is near here, can you make it?_ The Divine Dragon asked.

_I don't really have a choice, do I? If I fall asleep, something's bound to eat us all._ Sean thought.

He forced himself up, and lengthened his arm to it's full extent, somewhere around twelve feet in length. He gently scooped up all his friends, making sure to grab their weapons and Spirits, and beat his weakened wings.

_Fly northwest, it will only be a few minutes,_ The Divine Dragon said.

That few minutes felt like hours. Sean fought as hard as he could to stay conscious and in his Dragoon form. When he did reach Ulara, the shield dropped, saving him some trouble, and when he arrived and the shield went back up, he dropped his friends, changed to his human form, and collapsed on top of them.

Author's Note: And thus is our first action chapter in the story, sorry if it wasn't any good, but we hope you all liked it. Please Review, and we'll see you all soon!


	5. Redemption or Destruction? Part I

Chapter Five: Redemption or Destruction? Part I

In the darkness of the wilderness Sean stood, solitary. He looked left, and right, but could find no trace of the enemy that had escaped his sight. He gripped his Claymore even tighter with his sweaty hands, waiting. Suddenly, a black figure leapt high above the tops of the trees. Sean readied to guard, just as the black enemy flipped, and switched to a diving position.

Suddenly Sean's sword was gone, and he was left with nothing but his hands to defend against this foe. It plummeted down at him, and he had no time to even take a step as the figure's forehead came in contact with his own. Everything froze, and Sean found himself staring into two fierce brown eyes, just like his own.

"Ah!" Sean bolted out of the bed and reached for his weapon…but his hand grasped at nothing. He suddenly came to the realization that it had merely been a dream. He was in no danger. However, one moment later, he also realized he wasn't in his bed.

Then it all came back to him, sadness struck him as he vividly recalled each and every one of the other Dragoons having their souls removed from their bodies. He'd killed Darteth, in a rage, and brought them to Ulara.

"Humph, that would explain the Wingly bed, and the silver robes," Sean said. He got up, and looked around. The room was of the typical style: dome-shaped. There were a few separate articles of abstract furniture scattered about the room, and three teleporter pads in the back. Sean thought it would be wiser to not test where they led, and walked outside.

The spring city, Ulara was as active as ever, Winglies filled the skies, and those who preferred treading took up the bridges and sidewalks. The forest far below teemed with wildlife that only a few human eyes had ever seen before. Waterfalls ran down in several places, most eventually leading to the wilderness below.

Sean also could vaguely remember his position, he was very near Charle's home. There was a Wingly standing in the doorway in front of Sean, enjoying the same scenery, not aware of Sean's presence behind him. Sean tapped his shoulder, "Excuse me."

"Hm? Oh, you're awake!" He said. "Greetings, my name is Shalohgad. Charle instructed me to wait here for you to arise, then lead you to her home. You've been sleeping for two days," Shalohgad said.

"Two days?" Sean asked.

"Yes, Sean, you were terribly drained from the battle in the Death Frontier," Shalohgad answered. Sean nodded, and shrugged it off.

Shaloghad led him through the quickest route to Charle's home, and let him in, standing outside again. Sean walked in slowly.

"Hello again, Sean," Charle said from a room down the hall. Sean walked in, to find Charle standing just by the threshold, smiling. "It is good to see you again."

"Same here, Charle," Sean said. "Are my friends okay?"

Charle looked somewhat pained. "At the moment, no. Their souls have been torn from their bodies, with all manners of attachment torn. The souls have no guide back to their bodies, and so, will have to be led. The process is a tedious one, but the proper Winglies are being gathered as we speak. To get all of your friends back, one by one, will take about one week," she said.

Sean nodded. "Where are they?"

"They are in our hospital, on the other side of the city, you can get there by this teleporter pad," she said. "But before you go I would have a word-" But she was cut off as Sean stepped onto the pad and vanished.

In the blink of an eye, and a flash of light, Sean was across the city, in a hospital room with seven beds, seven bodies lying in them, and seven differently colored souls beside them. The souls were kept in a sort of magical barriers, bouncing gently off the walls. Sean beheld all his friends, lying on their cots, with their heads facing the wall they were up against, and a small panel over the forehead of each of them. He walked past them all, looking at them, and deciding that the panels over their heads was a sort of vital sign reading device.

Finally, at the end, he came upon Melissa. He pulled a chair up by her bed and sat down, resting his chin on his fingers. Memories uncontrollably rushed through his mind, watching Darteth pull her soul from her body, and cast her to the ground.

Sean grabbed her hand, expecting a deathly chill, but it wasn't like that at all. Her hand was full of the same warmth that it had always possessed. Her body was working, there was just nothing behind her beautiful dark eyes. Sean held her hand, thinking sad thoughts, and praying for some sign that she felt his hand. However, Sean was looking at the empty body, the wrong place, had he looked to the soul, he'd have noticed it bounce towards him, and its flames intensify slightly.

Tears fell down his face, and onto her hand. Something held him back, but in a matter of seconds he discarded hesitation, and kissed her hand. He then held it against his cheek, whispering. "Oh, please get better quick, please, please, please."

His breath stuttered, and he set her hand back down, and wiped his eyes. He stood up and looked at all his friends. Charle said that they'd be fine, in a week all of them would be awake and okay.

"Can I help you?" an old voice asked. Sean turned around and noticed seven Winglies walking into the room, one holding a very dusty, old book.

"Um, yes. Are you the Winglies that are going to help my comrades?" Sean asked. The foremost Wingly nodded.

"We are, and if you would please leave us, we will begin directly," he said. Sean nodded, walked to the back of the room, took one last look at his friends and stepped onto the pad again.

Instantly he was back in Charle's room, and found her waiting for him. "Sorry, but I had to see them for myself," he said.

"It's alright, Sean," Charle said. "I should have sent you there first. But now that you know that all will be well, we need to speak of this battle."

Sean nodded, he gave details of Darteth's physical features, the eyes, the white hair, the pale blue skin, and so on. Then he spoke of Darteth's proclaimed history, and Charle spoke up finally, shaking her head.

"Impossible, no human and Wingly alliance ever annihilated an entire species, and I've never heard of a soul thieving race. Much less anything EVER dwelling in the Death Frontier. The story doesn't add up, he must have been lying," she said.

"But he was so excited about it, and what would be the point of lying to people you plan to kill?" Sean asked.

"Well, perhaps he thought the story was true himself," Charle suggested. "We took the liberty of examining the jeweled pouch that he held the souls with. We quickly determined that the jewels were from the caverns below Mayfil, and the pouch itself reeks of the vile place," Charle said.

Sean's eyes narrowed. "This thing also said it had a master, but who could command something so powerful? And why Mayfil? That city just refuses to stay out of our lives."

"Indeed, but I would strongly advise you not go there alone. You're still weak from the battle, and you would not have your friends to aid you should you find a powerful evil there. I recommend you train for the healing week in our gymnasium, and allow your friends time to recover.

_You need to stretch out your muscles, Sean. _The Divine Dragon said, speaking up for the first time since Sean had woken up.

Sean nodded. "Alright, do you have a pad to take me to the gym?" Charle nodded, and led him to another room, and sent him on his way. Sean found himself on a wall lined with teleportation pads, viewing a vast room full of several levels of activities for close and long range combat, and magic use. Sean was not alone, either, not at all. Dozens of Winglies were present and training vigorously, and few stopped to even acknowledge Sean's entrance.

Sean grabbed a sword from the rack, and stepped to a less crowded area to practice accuracy and speed. He practiced technique for a few hours, but in truth, his heart wasn't in it, he was too worried about his friends. Eventually he placed the sword back on the rack and walked outside.

He strode about the city, trying to take his mind off his friends troubles with the scenery, but it did not work well. He sat by a small, artificial pond, and watched the fish float around, reflective scales shining with the sun. He saw himself in the reflection for a moment, but a fishtail flopped through the face and ruined the calm water. At that Sean turned, to see something he hadn't seen in years, the Wingly pub. The last two times he'd been in Ulara, he hadn't been old enough to order a drink.

_Sean, don't._ The Divine Dragon warned.

_It's just a few drinks, what could it hurt?_ Sean thought.

He walked in, ignoring further warning from the Divine Dragon. He sat down at the bar, and a Wingly walked up. "Well, a familiar face in a whole new place," the bartender said. "What'll it be?"

"Whatever you think is best," Sean said, smiling. The Wingly nodded, and poured a glass of a strange, foaming purple liquid. Sean took the glass and took a sip. It tasted great, better than most champagnes, but it was also strong, the way he liked it.

"Yup, this'll do just fine," Sean said.

* * *

The sun seemed to leap to the west, and Sean finally found himself in front of several downed glasses of what he learned was called The Release. He ordered another one, but the bartender stopped. "Pal, I think you've had enough, I mean look at you, your half way off the stool."

"Fine! You know what? You just lost a customer!" Sean said stupidly, and stumbled out of the pub.

_You're despicable,_ The Divine Dragon said. He hadn't spoken a single word since Sean entered the bar.

"You have no idea," Sean said, his eyes glossed over. Why again? Now of all times, when he needed to escape the sorrow worse than ever, did it come back. He sat down and laid his head back.

* * *

"I cant stand this anymore, Sean!" Melissa had yelled.

"What am I doing?" Sean said.

"Oh, you're impossible!"

"WHAT?"

"We haven't spent any time together since that last raid at the foot of Mount Mortal Dragon. One uprising of evil and you just sank back into your shell again, remember that?" Tears had filled her eyes. "I thought the others and I had pulled you through that, but you never will truly leave behind your old self, will you? Strong, proud, Sean. There are more important things than being ready for the worst to happen all the time. If you cant see that, then I don't think I can stay with you any longer."

"Fine. Get out!" Sean saw his hand, pointing a finger at the door.

Melissa's tears streamed down her face, but her face was twisted with anger. She sobbed and ran out the door, slamming it behind her.

* * *

Sean opened his eyes, and saw the starry night. Why did he sink back into his shell? Why did he insist on being proud and strong? Stupid.

He just didn't want anyone to get hurt, or was it something else? Sean stood up, and looked around, the Wingly streets had nearly emptied, and he was virtually alone, now.

He'd no doubt made a fool of himself reliving his most horrid memory in the middle of a public place. He leaned against the magnificently carved stone guards on the side of the bridge.

He felt as though he was a paradox, Ulara was so beautiful, so pure, so well meaning, but his presence was welcome, and he was vile, stupid, ignorant…arrogant. It didn't match. He looked over the edge, down to the forest. Even that was quiet, all its inhabitants had begun their slumber. His eyes moved forward.

Strange, even the decrepit Death Frontier had a certain beauty to it on a night like this. Sean stood there, leaning for a time, how long, he didn't know. He had no idea of what was coming up behind him until it was too late.

An arm slipped under his own and grabbed his neck, and yanked down on his head. Sean instinctively fought against it, and then another arm repeated the process on his other side. Now Sean was trapped in this hidden assailant's full nelson.

He pushed Sean's head down, and tripped out his legs. Then he let go and turned Sean around. "I could have just thrown you over the edge and no one would ever have known."

Sean knew that voice. But was it really that late in the night. Suddenly anger swelled up inside him. "Mike?"

Mike crossed his arms and took a step back. "The old you would have seen that coming, not the you from before Melbu, but the you from afterwards. You used to be truly powerful Sean. Where did that go?"

Author's Note: Hey! We really appreciate how positive you guys are about our stories, we put a lot of work into them and you're telling us it was worth it. Thank you all so much, please review and we'll keep posting!


	6. Redemption or Destruction? Part II

Chapter Six: Redemption or Destruction? Part II

Sean glared up at Mike with an intense fury, and Mike merely looked down at him with disappointment. "Well?"

"You…little!" Sean blurted, seething with anger. He shot up, but Mike's fist shot out from the left, striking Sean in the face. Spit flew from his mouth, flying to the right, and Sean followed it, thrown down by the punch. Mike grabbed his robe's lapel and picked Sean back up.

"You have fallen apart, you're not what you used to be, cant you see that?" Mike asked calmly. Sean glared again, and strongly contemplated head butting Mike, but something inside him realized, Mike was serious in asking the question.

"Yes, yes I see that," Sean said.

"Then why do you refuse to do something about it?" Mike yelled.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Sean boomed. Mike stepped back, and set Sean down.

"And there we go," Mike said.

"What?"

"There is no reason to not go and make yourself better, you know it and I know it. Everyone knows it. You are in horrible shape and it's visible, trust me. The others think they're respecting your privacy or something but I know better, I've seen this before. Remember that. You need to go and be alone, somewhere completely away from everything. Just to think," Mike said. He turned his back on Sean, and began walking. "I'll hold down the fort until you're back, and you _should_ get far away from this place. You'll come to your senses eventually, but don't come back until you do, or the evil out there will conquer us all." Then he was gone, into his temporary Wingly home.

Sean stood there for a long time, looking at the doorway where he'd last seen Mike, thinking only two words to himself. _He's right._

Sean turned and looked to the South. He'd spend however long he had to in the clearing, away from everything and everyone. The world could wait, nothing dire was happening now. He called upon the powers of the Divine Dragon, but was startled when they didn't come to him.

"What's going on?"

_I'm staying here,_ the Divine Dragon said. _You need to be truly alone, not even I can accompany you this time, Sean. _

Sean frowned, but after a moment, nodded and agreed. He took off the necklace, having a good idea of where to take it for safekeeping.

He knocked on Charle's door, and with a quick shuffling and creak of wood, Charle opened it, dressed as she always was. "Oh, Sean, what keeps you out so late?"

"…Things," Sean said. "Look, Charle, I need to go on a trip. I have to leave everything here but my sword."

"What?" Charle asked, startled.

"I need to work a few things out, all alone, without even my spirit," Sean said. He held out the chain necklace that held the Dragoon Spirit, and placed it in Charle's hand. She held it for a moment, then looked at Sean.

"May I ask what is so dire to require your total solitude?" She asked.

"No, no I don't think I could tell you," Sean said apologetically. Charle nodded, and then smiled.

"Very well, where would you like to go?" She asked.

"Well I need to get to my home, first of all, but I'll make it myself from there," Sean said. Charle nodded.

"Well then let us go to the long range teleportation pad," Charle said, stepping past a suddenly confused pad.

"What?" He said, quickly following her, it was a short walk to the pad; it was visible from where they were.

"Transporting seven people is a moderate task, but transporting seven people and the power of seven dragons. Now that, Sean, requires the entire city. You alone without your spirit, will take only myself. I shall be weary afterwards, but it will help me sleep tonight," Charle said, smiling.

Sean stepped up between the four curved spires, and Charle put her hands forward. "Please hurry with my friends, and give them some training in that gym, okay?" Sean asked.

"Oh, yes, and how long will you be gone, Sean?" Charle asked.

"…I don't know."

"Ah."

"Should I expect a mirror image of myself at my house?"

"Yes, yes you should."

"Alright," Sean said. Suddenly a glow burst from Charle's fingertips, and surrounded Sean's vision, and when it cleared with a bright flash, he was in his backyard. He looked up through the window to see the images of the television reflecting off them, and walked inside.

Sean had never met face to face with the Wingly that had posed as him. When he found himself face to face, something didn't register right in his brain when the mirror image of himself didn't follow what he did.

"Um, hi," Sean said.

"Greetings," said the disguised Wingly. "I apologize, I didn't realize that we had been relieved of our duties, I shall depart."

"No, no you haven't been relieved, I'm only stopping by, please keep up being me," Sean said. The Wingly nodded, and returned to the living room. Sean walked into the spare bedroom, and unclothed the mattress, and carried it outside. He then walked into the garage and grabbed a long stretch of thin rope.

His plan was to spend as long as he had to in the clearing, forcing himself to focus through training. If all went to plan, he would be able to confront all his problems with a focused manner and quickly find how he truly felt about everything, so all the lies would finally stop. He tied the rope around the rolled up mattress, and strapped it around his back.

He began running, thinking of how his next days, maybe weeks, would be. He made a solemn vow to himself to never regress, to push on, no matter how serious his fatigue became. He had to push himself to the limit if he was to pull anything useful out of this excursion.

He was running at full speed, twigs snapped around him as he pushed through the thick brush. Some swung down and struck Sean's face and arms, stinging or cutting him, but he needed it. Physical pain gives one something to focus on, a sharp, vivid point of concentration; a good start for Sean.

He finally pushed through the thickest of the brush, and came out to see the first of the orange-pink glow that preceded the dawn over the clearing. He took a breath, and realized how tired he felt, his muscles all felt tired. Some part of him still didn't accept this decision to confront his problems, but that part had to be silenced. Sean threw off the mattress, and dragged it to a large tree, and wrapped the mattress around it. He then tied a part of the rope around the mattress to fasten it onto the tree, and there was Sean's punching bag.

He tossed away the rest of the rope, leaving it for a time to come. He looked about him, thinking to himself, how to start?

"Unsheathe your sword," came someone's voice, someone forever glued to Sean's memory. He heard Anna's voice in his mind as clearly as if she were right next to him, but he recognized the memory. His first day.

"Wow, have I fallen that far behind?" Sean asked, and then laughed quietly to himself.

"Precision, technique, speed, these are the things you need the most, they will affect the outcome of your battles the greatest. Magic is a powerful ally, but not one to be relied on; you must be able to rely completely on yourself. Now be quick, and accurate, worry about strength when you've become strong, now go!" Anna had lectured.

Sean drew his sword, and took up a basic defense stance. The best thing to do was simply imagine an adversary before you. Sean imagined Darteth before him, smiling wickedly. Darteth drew his own sword, and rushed forward, swinging down, Sean brought his sword up and parried it away to the left, then swung around behind him, and cut through Darteth's back with a slice to the side. The imagination was weak, and stirred nothing inside him.

"What's wrong now?" Sean asked to no one in particular. He sat down and hung on his sword as he thought. Nothing about that awakened some hidden motivation, so what was he supposed to do? How could he become his old self if nothing spurred him? He thought, for a long time, as the sun continued its slow ascent.

* * *

"Ah, you've finally arrived," Zachwell said. He held up a black soul, in his clawed hand, and heard a voice answer in his thoughts.

"Yes, master, forgive my flaw, I'd not realized how badly my blade was damaged. The Dragoon, Sean, slew me before I recovered from shock," said Darteth. Zachwell had awakened the soul slightly to speak of the Dragoon battle.

"How many did you take with you?"

"The other seven, all of them, as you ordered," Darteth answered.

"Ah, very nice, but did you dispose of them?"

"…No, I wished to feast on them after I delivered Sean to you," Darteth answered.

"So Sean has them?"

"Yes."

"Idiot."

"…"

"With the Winglies, that boy can still save his friends. As long as they exist, there is a serious threat to our new purpose," Zachwell said. "You jeopardize my mission with your hunger?"

"Master, forgive me, I did not know I could be killed by them," Darteth said.

"No, no, I'll mind it, everything will fall into the right place, don't worry yourself about that, for I'll see to it myself," Zachwell said with a thoughtful tone.

"Very well. Master? May I have my soul returned to a body?" Darteth asked.

"…No, no I think not, something as sentient as you still has too much room for flaw. You have served your purpose, into the inferno with your foul soul," Zachwell said carelessly. He gripped the soul tightly, and the magic of Mayfil began its work. Red, malevolent flames were pulled seemingly from the air of the old city and wrapped around the soul, and began pushing it in.

Darteth's screams were heard for several seconds before the flames carried it into the ground, to the Inferno, the ancient Wingly constructed "Hell", and silenced him.

Zachwell laughed and turned around. He beat his wings, and they carried him to his throne constructed of bone and ebony. He looked out on a vast field, as the spells he'd cast earlier continued to work. The direct route to the Inferno had been rerouted, and sent to this field. The dead dirt of Mayfil wrapped around the souls of the wicked and constructed new, dark beings. They reeked of death and decay, and several looked it as well, with bones from past warriors in the soil hanging from their new bodies. Strong magic ensured that the bonds between these souls and their new bodies were breakable only by Zachwell; also he made them stupid, unquestioned loyalty to him and no one else was a strong trait of his dead warriors.

An army was building, soon it would be ready. _Let the humans be their own end_. Zachwell thought. Then he laughed, and it rang out all around Mayfil, and the stupid soldiers turned to glimpse at the one they served.

* * *

/One Week Later\\\

Everyone sat outside on the strange Wingly chairs, staring at the sky. The week of recovery had gone by, and everyone had been brought back, though not quite perfect. Ben was telling his story to Christie, who thought it incredibly funny.

"I'm telling you, they switched up my voluntary and involuntary processes! I had to think to breathe, to beat my heart! All the while my mouth just kept running on and on and on, jibberish! They had to remove me and put me back the right way!" He said. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because," Rob said, chiming in, "Thinking about thinking, having to remember to breath, while your mouth goes on and on? They put you in right the first time!"

Ben slugged Rob and they all laughed. Charle had asked them all to meet there, and they were just passing time until her and Mike showed. Soon enough they did, and Charle began carrying out the request Sean had made.

"Dragoons, now that you are all in better health, and apparently rested, I would like to tell you about Sean's last night here," Charle said. The laughter halted and seven pairs of concerned eyes looked to the ancient Wingly.

"Sean had a hidden that called him away, solitarily. He left everything except his sword, even his Dragoon Spirit," she said.

"What happened?" Ben asked.

"What happened was that Sean was weak and finally realized it," Mike said. "He's gone to do something about it, alone."

"Yes, and the final request he made before departing was that you would all train vigorously during his absence, he says you have been Dragoons for nearly ten years, the connection with your Dragons is truly powerful, you should be able to draw out more of your element. You can become even more powerful, it is only a matter of drawing it out. Please go to the gymnasium, you will be attended to there," Charle said.

Everyone looked at each other, stood and began walking to the gymnasium, not knowing just how difficult of a task awaited them.

Authors' Note: Hey Everybody! Archangel here! Spike's here too, but he's….not well, he saw how many hits we had compared to the number of reviews and kinda….well he's sitting in the corner muttering angrily. You guys we're begging, if you read our story, even if you don't like it, please give us a review, tell us what we need to do, but please review! Until next chapter, adios.


	7. Trials to Overcome

Chapter Seven: Trials to Overcome

/The Previous Week\\

Sean's eyes fluttered open, he sat up, and looked around, noticing that the sun was high in the sky. He'd fallen asleep trying to identify his problems. He stood up, and looked around him, his gaze circling the entire clearing, and came upon the mattress.

Sean took a running start and leapt ten feet from the tree. He threw his feet out, and they struck the tree, yet his feet didn't strike quite in the center, so the momentum he had caused his feet to slip off of the smooth mattress cloth and he fell with a crash to the ground.

He sat up, and laughed, "A person's fighting abilities can reflect a person's lifestyle," he said. He wasn't aimed right, he was veering away from his course. He walked to his spot and sat down, and placed his head in his hands, with his eyes closed on top of his palms and began to breathe very slowly.

Concentration was the key to meditation, Sean had read books on it, but had never tried it. Breathing was best slow; five counts for inhaling, five for exhaling. If he could keep the steady breathing while concentrating on something strong, his body would fall asleep and his mind could truly explore itself.

He didn't know how long precisely it was that he sat there in silence. His body told him, that in physical terms it was hours, but it truly felt like mere minutes. Sean could see everything, a world in his own mind, full of duties, functions, thoughts, and memories. He looked through each one of his most treasured memories, for they were what seemed to reveal themselves to him. Almost every one of them included Melissa.

Slowly, over time, Sean was coming to a conclusion, he could feel it, but he couldn't grasp it, but he felt it coming to him, which was progress.

Finally, the most important, yet most disgusting memory came into his mind, the memory of their fight, seeing her glare at him like that. Oh, how he'd regretted being so bull headed as soon as the door slammed shut. Sean let go of the concentration and woke up, he knew what his greatest problem was.

It was not his enemies, not his problems, directly, but himself. He was his own source of all his sorrow and pain, he was the reason so much pain had been caused to his friends and himself, to her…

Sean stood up, as realization flowed through him, and anger at his own ignorance strengthened every muscle in his body. He took three steps and leapt at the tree again, stretching his feet out in front of it.

With a crack he struck the tree, and every limb shook due to the force, dying leaves fell, followed by a small number of healthy ones. Sean kicked off the tree and back flipped in front of it, and began punching furiously. The entire barrage of punches struck strong and dug deep into the mattress. Sean could feel the tree under the mattress as he plunged his fists into it again and again.

He whipped out his sword and slashed at a smaller tree to the side, cutting halfway through it, then with an extra kick it crashed to the ground. He proceeded in slashing and stabbing in every direction with all his strength, for hours on end, until the sun was setting. He heard his breath seize as he continued to slice, cutting air and wood, but he did not stop, despite his fatigue. He had only so much time to become stronger before his friends and he would be needed again.

Into the night Sean cut and kicked and punched and tore his way through his own problems, until finally physical limits had been long passed, and he collapsed onto his back, asleep before he hit the ground.

/One Week Later\\

Fires surrounded Ben, but they were not his own, in fact, they were meant to cause him pain. And pain he was caused. Immense pain surged around Ben, but as he had been instructed, he did not budge an inch. This exercise was for Red-Eyes.

_Rrrgg, I hate this,_ Red-Eyes said irritably.

"You hate it? I'm the one being burned to a crisp!" Ben yelled. "AAAAAAHHHH!"

Above his head, the Wingly trainer of fire pumped more magic into the flames, filling them with more heat. "You must master your own element!"

"I have that mastery!" Ben yelped. "This is overkill! Serious, SERIOUS overkill!"

At this the flames were only strengthened. Ben's skin burned unlike ever before, but it just kept coming. He was so tired of it, so angered by this pain, so….

Ben clenched his fists. "What do ya say, Red-Eyes? Wanna master the mastered?"

_Mmm, indeed, I don't like being told how to use my own element. _He answered.

Ben concentrated on his spirit, then spread the field out over the flames surrounding him. It was easier than he thought it would be, but after all, it was his element. It was fire, the possession of the creature that gave Ben almost all of its own powers. Thusly, when this creature wanted the fire to be out, it would be out. The eye in the center of his armor gleamed orange, something it had never done, as the Dragon used the extent of its power.

The Wingly master had been resisting this the whole time, but finally they had figured out the key, it was time to give his all in resisting their power, in the end, it would only make them stronger.

Ben felt the Dragon doing something it hadn't ever done before, slowly, gradually growing in power before his own chest. He could feel the energy.

_Ben, I'm sorry, but I need you to give this your all, draw me out as greatly as you can without causing permanent damage._ Red-Eyes said.

Ben gave a small nod. He placed his feet wide, feeling the intense heat around him that would turn any other human into ash. He filled every pour of his body, every vein of every muscle with his power, drawing out the Red-Eyed Dragon as powerfully as he could.

Muscles bulged, skin stretched, as Ben's body tried to adapt to the power of a Dragon. The Wingly was beginning to tire, and watched as within the flames, Ben's eyes changed to blood red, and the pupils became reptilian slits. The stretching tore some cuts in his skin, and his human grunts were met with a Dragon's growl. This was the most dangerous part, Ben could die if he slipped, but he walked into this, knowing full well the possible consequences. The Wingly had confidence, every other Dragoon had made it out okay, and Ben was the strongest of them all.

Finally a beastly roar rushed from Ben's white lips, and the entire city of Ulara silenced, even the wind seemed to cease blowing through the trees. There was a pop, and suddenly the flames around him rushed into the now white hot Red-Eyed Dragoon Spirit.

Ben's frightening features subsided, besides the cuts, along with his power, and Ben fell, exhausted, to the ground. "Whoa," he whispered.

The Wingly smiled and used a small amount of his power to heal Ben's few injuries. "Very good. Very good indeed."

"Thanks…wow…" Ben said in amazement.

You'll find that your power has been kicked up a notch, but it is not the limit of your abilities, you and the others have only been through one day of this training, you shall endure seven, each day doing this, and practicing with the finest weapon masters Wingly-kind has to offer.

"I haven't done that today though," Ben said.

"No, no you haven't, you will be going to meet your personal trainer after an hour of rest," The Wingly master said. He put forth a hand, but Ben waved his own.

"I think I can get myself up, but thank you," he said. He sat up, with a fierce sense of accomplishment in his eyes. He limped feebly out the door to meet his equally exhausted friends.

"That was not cool, at all," Ben said.

"You think you had it bad? They buried me!" Mike said. "They had rocks and soil appear from no where to launch at me, very quickly."

"They tried to drown me! And I had to be chained to the floor so I couldn't swim up!" Brittany said.

Christie was still rubbing her eyes from being exposed to an artificial sun, and Melissa was squinting due to being stranded alone in blackness full of something to cause her pain for who knows how long. Rob was warming up finally, after suffering from wind chill unlike any he'd ever experienced, and Brad couldn't stop shaking his limbs.

Each had successfully gained control over what they'd been placed up against, but each was also guaranteed more difficult trials to come.

Over the next hour, conversation was scarce to none, and everyone laid down somewhere to rest their bodies. Once the hour had passed, however they were surprisingly rested. They weren't nearly as sore as they felt they should have been, and they walked together to the weapons section. There seven Winglies, each carrying a weapon identical to one of the Dragoons, met them and led them to separate rooms to train vigorously different techniques to increase their speed and precision until long after the sun had set behind the horizon.

Everyone met again, dragging their feet and sagging their shoulders, wiped out from swinging their weapons, or in Christie's case, dodging attacks to reach a suitable firing position.

They all collapsed into their separate beds and fell asleep immediately.

But one Dragoon wasn't sleeping, he was the only one of them not in Ulara, however. While these seven Dragoons trained together for their first day, Sean had already had nearly seven days under his belt. After his first night of training, he had started the training he'd been given by Anna from the beginning. Precision and speed were the targets he had desired to acquire, and he'd spent two days working on techniques that suited such accessibilities. Then gradually he began to increase his power behind his slashes and swipes. When not doing that he was envisioning multiple enemies, not just Darteth, but himself, his friends, Melbu Frahma, and even Zachwell. But he had decided to cease fighting Zachwell, it was just to strange for some reason.

He pushed on, everyday practicing also with disarming techniques and hand to hand combat, in the case that he'd need it. Sometimes he would simply go all out on his primitive punching bag for the sake of increasing stamina.

Every day and night he toiled, eating only in the mornings, being sure to take in a day's fill. Then he would go on until fatigue overcame him. He was pleased to see that the moon was further and further across the night sky every time he fell onto his back to finally rest.

Tonight was special, he could tell, something just felt good inside him, perhaps his friends were finally reunited with their bodies again. He hoped there hadn't been any problems. Then, for the fourth night in a row, he fell asleep pondering how he'd confront Melissa when he returned to them.

"A few more days," Sean said. "Then I'll get back to them, they'll be stronger than ever, I'll be stronger than ever, hopefully not just in body. Oh, Melissa I want so badly to talk to you…" He said as his eyes closed and he drifted to sleep.

Authors' Note: Thank you all so much for the gargantuan amount of reviews last chapter! Sorry that this one was so short, but next chapter will be better, we promise. But in the meantime PLEASE DON'T STOP REVIEWING! Spike is better but still rather unstable, so please keep it up. Until next chapter, adios!


	8. Another Week Later

Chapter Eight: Another Week Later…

Sean had used the ropes to tie heavy stones to his wrists, shins, and torso, and had gone on runs, and performed his exercises with the extra weight for the last few days, but today, he cut the ropes, and felt well over three hundred pounds fall from his body. He moved around, astounded at how much lighter he felt by simple motion alone.

He clenched his fist, and saw his new muscle ripple. But Sean wasn't just stronger in body. He'd identified his problem and had dealt with every situation in his mind, and only one redemption remained to be performed, and he could not accomplish that here.

Sean took a look around this clearing that had served the Dragoons' purpose for so many years, as a group and now individually. He smiled as he picked up his sword, then turned. He was hopeful that the Wingly posing as him would have some way back to Ulara for him, but he'd find out when he got there.

Sean began running, and his powerful legs carried him faster and stronger than ever before, he dodged every out-stuck branch in his way and suffered no stings while passing through the woods to return to his home.

He stepped inside and quickly changed from his reeking, sweat-soaked clothing. Then when he left his room, his double was there to meet him, holding out his fist. "Charle sent me something to help you get home," he said.

"Thanks," Sean said, he held out his hand, and the Wingly dropped the Spirit of the Divine Dragon into his hand. On contact it shimmered with blinding toxic green light.

_Amazing, Sean._ The Divine Dragon said.

_What?_

_Your new power, your strength of mind, everything about you has changed dramatically. You had better thank Mike when we arrive in Ulara._ He answered. _You are centered, and I can feel your own individual power radiating from you._

_Good, then I'm not just imagining some improvement,_ Sean thought. He said his thanks to the Wingly, and stepped into a secluded area behind his house.

_The others have improved tremendously, the Winglies forced them to pull out their Dragon's powers in such strength that it took a toll on their bodies, and it strengthened both human and Dragon each time. Also, they've been training with their weapons, learning to be faster and more accurate than ever before. Each of them has changed greatly._

"Excellent," Sean said. He was eager to see his friends. "Let's fly fast and get to Ulara."

_Agreed._ The Divine Dragon said.

Sean felt the light shine all around, covering his body, flowing into his pours, after only two weeks, he didn't think it would feel this different. He felt the power more vividly than ever, as it swarmed around him, and he was keeping it low for conservation purposes. Six wings sprung from his back and pumped with strength unfelt by Sean, and the Divine Dragon ever before, he was lifted from the air and soared across the sky towards Ulara.

_

* * *

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG!_

Mike threw his axe over his wrist and turned it to the offensive position to counter attack Roberts five lightning fast stabs. He'd turned his axe blade flat to provide as much cover for his body as possible.

Rob came at him again, but from the air, swinging downward in an attempt to stun Mike, but Mike was no fool, this was what was to be anticipated. He turned his axe upside down, caught the shaft between the blade and the handle, and locked it. He then proceeded to smile as he sent Robert sprawling.

Robert got up and took up a stance Mike hadn't seen yet, and they stared off for approximately fifteen seconds, reading each other, at the same exact instant they both rushed forward. Rob's quickness served him well, this battle had ended as soon as Mike raised his axe above his head. Rob dashed in towards him, and stuck the end of his spear in the dirt, and perched the tip of the blade on Mike's stomach. Mike, meanwhile, had frozen in place, for fear of being stabbed. Rob lightly leaned on Mike's back, and smiled.

"Oh, what a shame, the Earth Dragoon died, and we gotta find a new bearer," he chuckled. Mike dropped his axe, spun around and wrapped his rippled arm around Rob's neck.

"Did I hear Earth? Cause I'm pretty sure it's the Wind Dragoon that cant squeeze in any oxygen right now," Mike whispered into his ear. Rob tried in vain to breathe, but as his consciousness was slipping he tapped Mike's arm and Mike let go. Rob fell to his knees and began laughing as soon as he could breathe again.

"You would have had me if you hadn't have boasted," Mike said.

"Yeah, but it was right there, I couldn't resist," Rob said.

They looked around at everyone else, taking in once again how far everyone had come, a week had gone by and everyone was faster, stronger, and smarter than they'd ever been. Mike crossed his arms and enjoyed the sight, for a moment, but something ringed in his ear. He looked to where it was coming from and he saw a dim silver light coming at them, leaving a streak of powerful magic in its wake.

"Well, he's finally back," Mike whispered to himself.

The light dove low, spun around them and shot up. It disappeared and a human Sean flipped backwards and landed gracefully on the ground with a smile. Everyone's eyes widened when they'd seen what he'd done with himself, he had made as much improvement as any of them, without the help of Winglies.

Mike stepped up first, "So, you finally decided to come back, are you your old self again?"

Sean looked grim, crossed his arms and stared Mike straight in the eye. Then a smile slowly spread across his lips and he spoke two happy words. "Choke me."

Mike chuckled once and placed his hands around Sean's neck. Sean grabbed both his hands with both of his own, and placed his thumb in the middle of the bones in the center, and wrapped his fingers around the meat in mike's hand. Then he jerked Mike's hands outward.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Mike yelled. Everyone, except Rob, gasped. Rob had a reaction of his own.

"OOOHH! I hope it hurts!"

Sean then bent Mike's hands inward toward their owner, forcing Mike to a knee with little to no effort.

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

"OOOHH! Mike he's makin a wuss outta you!"

Then to top it all off, Sean took a step and flung Mike towards the edge of the bridge at the corner of the Wingly meadow. Rob ran over to him.

"WOW! I wish Mike's girlfriend was here to see him get whooped like that!"

Now, Mike was a very manly person around the woman he cared so much for, and took Rob's words, somewhat to heart. His instinctive reaction was to get up and body slam Rob. And that's exactly what he did.

Rob toppled off the side of the bridge, and for a moment all anyone heard was the whistling of the wind as Rob fell.

"Oh, come on, he has his Dragoon Spirit, he'll be back," Mike said nervously.

Still, silence surrounded the Dragoons for another thirty seconds, until Brittany claimed she heard something.

"……aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" came Rob's voice, followed closely by his body, clad in Dragoon armor. He clashed into Mike and they began yet another fight, laughing already.

"So, where'd you go?" Ben asked Sean. Sean looked away from Rob and Mike and Ben saw the old, warrior look in his eyes. The look they'd possessed years ago, but had been robbed of recently. Sean sighed heavily and Ben was surprised to smell absolutely no trace of alcohol on his breath.

"I had some things to deal with, that's all," he said. But even as he said this to Ben, his eyes drifted to Melissa, who was laughing at Rob and Mike.

Ben breathed a laugh, understanding.

"Well you missed some fun stuff here, our Dragons are stronger and so are we, after only two weeks. We all gained a new magic attack, one our Dragons couldn't even quite pull off in life," Ben said.

Sean's eyes widened. "Really? Whoa!" He said, he asked to be shown, but Ben shook his head.

"No, no, they sap us of everything we have, they're just a last resort thing for now," Ben said. "Plus we don't want to cause destruction on the only up and running Wingly city we know of, right?"

They laughed and shook hands, each one surprised with the strength of the grip of the other. Sean smiled brighter and put another hand on his best friend's, "Thanks for being patient, Ben. You too, Christie."

She hugged him and Sean walked to Mike and Rob as they finished. He helped both of them up and shook their hands, thanking them for sticking with him, and pulled Mike aside for a moment.

"You were the really heavy boulder that broke the camel's back, Mike," Sean said. "Thanks so much for making me realize my faults."

Mike smiled approvingly and nodded. "Just stay this way, okay?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Sean said.

He looked to Melissa and took a step forward, but halted at that. Not in front of everyone, he couldn't, it'd be embarrassing. He'd catch up to her tonight.

Sean sat down in the middle of the meadow. "This is definitely a better sight than the clearing," he said and lay on his back, staring at the blue and white sky. Conversation continued amongst the now fully reunited Dragoons. No one spoke anything of the fight with Darteth, for the memory was still too tender to everyone.

They spoke of their training, their follies that could be laughed at, nothing bad at all, and thus it was a good day in Ulara. As if they'd been separated for months or years the Dragoons re-embraced their relationship as an indivisible team of friends.

* * *

The night seemed to come swiftly, and the band separated to separate things suiting their fancies. Brad and Mike left with Brittany to visit an item shop to find something interesting, Robert actually felt the need to train further, and went to the gym with a new friend and fellow spearman.

Ben and Christie went to a restaurant and Melissa walked off on her own, leaving Sean alone to his own thoughts, his own doubts.

_She wont take me back, not after all this. Why would she? I was a filthy monster to her, ruthless and brutal, even if I didn't mean it. Oh, my chest hurts, this broken hearted pain again. She is my everything and I love her with all my heart, always will…So what kind of person would I be if I didn't try? _

Sean jogged lightly, silently, until the darkness released Melissa and he could see her again, peering over the bridge, bright starlight reflecting off her skin and her bright, beautiful brown eyes. Eyes Sean would die to look into like he used to.

He stood awestruck at her beauty, every perfect line that cut her out from the painting behind her and made her something tangible, something he could have, had had, and lost. But he'd realized the error of his ways, and would make every effort to redeem them. Because the person that meant the most of all worlds was right before him, and he had been sent to this moment, not to fail.

He took a step…

_What will I say?_

Then another…

_I should just be natural._

Then another…

_I need to do this, and if she will hear me, it's all I can ask for, and more than I deserve._

Sean was right before her. And still she stayed as though fixed, natural beauties had always stolen Melissa's attention. It was no surprise.

"Uh, hey," Sean began nervously.

Melissa jumped and turned, "Oh," she smiled. "Hey."

"Mind if I join you for a sec?"

Melissa neither approved nor denied, she merely abandoned her smile and turned around. Sean took it as an indifference. He stepped up and leaned on the stone next to her.

"Melissa…I…" he stopped, this wasn't going to be easy. "I left for two weeks to sort out my life, and to find out why I was so miserable, and there were so many reasons, and I thought my friends, my enemies, and you were it."

"Pft, typical," she snorted indifferently.

"But I learned otherwise. Melissa please hear me out, I've been the cause of all my, and some of your, troubles. I want to rectify that, I've fixed every aspect of my life for good, except that you still aren't in it," Sean said. Melissa seemed stunned by this, she turned to Sean and looked him straight in the eye, as though with a stern scan for lies.

"Go on…"

Authors' Note: Thank you SO much for the reviews! This is more than we could have expected, incredible! We're hoping desperately that this story wont disappoint any of you, you're all being so kind. Thanks again, please keep up the reviewing, and we'll see you next chapter!


	9. A Soul's Outpour

Chapter Nine: A Soul's Outpour

"Melissa…Please don't look at me like that," Sean said, he saw that only common decency was keeping her there. He saw it hurt her. But he was desperate to make all the pain go away.

"Why not Sean?"

A question he didn't expect…why did he try to rekindle a good past that had been repressed for months?

"Because…because I am being true to you, and myself for the first time in months. We had a lot of fuming fights in the last few days of our relationship, but they were all my own arrogance, my own stupidity. You were right, I had regressed into something I never wanted to become," Sean said.

"You see? It was plain to everyone except you," she said. Sean looked to the ground and nodded. Melissa had put up a wall, and Sean had only a small hammer to pound through it with.

_Yeah, but even if I have to use my hands, I'll get back to you, _Sean thought.

"Why are you doing this? What do you want, Sean? You just come up to me after months of neglect of the worst kind, after the most horrible times in my life, and expect to make it better?" She demanded.

Sean was stunned. He could tell Melissa was forcing the words out of her, but they were still logical questions. "…I…what do you want me to say? What can I say? I can only ask for you to hear me out and please trust that of all the moments I could choose to be believed undoubtedly, I would choose this one. I lost you because of me, but with myself renewed I want to ask you to be with me. I would swear my life on never hurting you again, Melissa." He felt that it was the opportune moment to stroke her beautiful face, but when his hand moved he stopped it. He was thinking of the past's moments.

"So you _do_ think you could just come up and make our sorrows go away? With promises? You've broken enough of those already, Sean. Just stop, okay? Get rid of those thoughts, I cant take the thought of staying with that person, and if you went back to him, I would be crushed into a pulp. We're better off on our own, and no other way!" She sputtered out, tears ran down her face, and Sean watched this all unfold in horrified shock.

"But Melissa, he is gone and never coming back. Melissa, I love you," he said helplessly. The next moment the beautiful romantic night sky, full of stars turned into a hideous black shade, littered with ruinous spies, uncountable spies watching all this happen and laughing, mocking Sean, as Melissa slapped him.

"You should have shown it better," She said through gritted teeth. She turned her back on Sean and walked away, waiting until she was out of sight to burst into tears. She had to find Mike.

Meanwhile Sean was dumbstruck, and did not move until she was gone. Something about that slap had numbed his entire body, and his vision blurred, but he wasn't passing out, no. No, tears welled up in his eyes, the most powerful yet. Sean turned away and looked over the vast countryside and gasped and tried to regain composure, but it was to no avail. He pounded the ledge of the walkway until his hand was red with blood.

He quickly poured a Healing Potion on it, and sat down and buried his face in his hands, giving no mind to the few passing travelers. There he sat for who knows how long, crying silently, praying for a quick death, right away, if Melissa would not have him, what was the point to living? All the while the Divine Dragon was silent, he could not have even seen this coming, but knew Sean would scorn any comfort.

Sean's eyes glazed over, and all he felt inside him was the same emptiness he'd felt weeks before, he'd worked so hard, but only made things worse. Now, terminating all thought, he sat down and stared straight forward into nothingness, not wanting to think of what he'd just done, or what the events of the night would portend...

* * *

Brittany was setting on Brad's lap, next to Mike as they exchanged jokes and stories of anything they thought up that would be entertaining. After all, it was a night to celebrate for the reunion of the Dragoons, right?

However they stopped when dim footfalls became louder behind them, and a sniff and a sob echoed out. They turned to find Melissa, walking forward, but her upper body was curled up and she was staring at the ground. Mike was the first one to his feet, quickly followed by Brad and Brittany, all shocked to see her like this.

"Melissa, what's the matter?" Mike asked.

Brad and Brittany looked at each other and joined the worried Mike in nearing towards the sorrow stricken Melissa.

"H-He came to me a moment ago," she breathed through the most painful sobs she'd ever encountered. "He sa-said that he-" She meant to say loved me, but it was only a whine that lost the feeble foundation it had, and merely became another sob.

"Sean?" Brad asked. That was great, he'd always wanted Sean and Melissa together, they were perfect for each other and he always had the inclination they'd get back. Brittany agreed with him as well. But something was incontrovertibly wrong, Melissa shouldn't be crying so desperately.

"And then?" Brittany asked, placing a worried hand on Melissa's shoulders. It seemed to add weight to her, and she sank to a sit on the side walk.

"I was furious, what else would I be?" Brad, Mike and Brittany rolled their eyes, Sean had overcome his stubbornness, but would Melissa rid herself of hers? She had always been independent. She looked up into their questioning gazes.

"I told him that we were better off on our own, that if we tried it and, and if he became like _that_ again…I-I wouldn't stand for it," She said, Mike helped her up and onto a stool. She laid her soaked face on his shoulder. "But I regretted it so much, so much…Mike I still love him, and I cant live without him, I cant…" She repeated the last two words over and over, fading each time into inaudible sobs.

Mike wrapped an arm around his crying sister, and Brittany hugged Brad in a worried embrace. Tears filled her eyes, but Brad's face was frozen. This was the biggest shock of his life, Sean and Melissa had been battling wills for so long, but Sean had set aside his own to try to win her back. But…she denied him with her own stubbornness.

"I cant believe this," he said in a whisper that was too quiet for anyone but himself to hear.

"Now he hates me, I know he does," She mumbled.

"No, no he wont," Mike said comfortingly, but Melissa wasn't listening, she wasn't speaking to them for help, she was punishing herself with her own words.

"He'll never look at me with love in his eyes again, it's really gone, all gone." She said in a pained whisper. For so long Sean had been the only person she could have ever thought of living with for the rest of her life, but she'd ruined it.

"But…maybe it's okay," She said. Everyone snapped their heads around. She was not smiling, and the look in her eyes was clearly an unconvinced one, but she spoke nevertheless. "Maybe now we can finally move on…"

Mike grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him sternly. Sean had been helped, and now it was his sisters turn. "Melissa, don't you _ever_ say that again."

"But-"

"No! Look what you and Sean have been through, everything you've sacrificed for each other and what you know very well is love. You were happy, for years, and you're willing to throw it all away because you think that sometime in the future you'll be happy? That is not how it will end. I'm going to go talk with Sean, stay here and think for a little bit okay?"

Melissa hiccupped and nodded sadly.

Mike stood up and walked off in the direction that Melissa had come.

When he was gone Melissa merely buried her face in her hands and Brad and Brittany stared in awe, but the silence wasn't meant to last.

"Melissa? D-do you regret saying those things to Sean?" Brad looked to Brittany, who had let go of him and stepped toward her slowly. "I mean would you change it if you could?"

A loud sob erupted from between Melissa's fingers, but she nodded slowly. She looked up and sniffed. "I said I still love him, and Mike's right, I think I always will…" She said helplessly.

Brittany sat on one side of her and Brad sat at the other. Brittany threw him a glance that told him that it was his turn to say something.

"Then why not go after him? Why should you two deny it any longer? Pride is your enemy, not each other. Sean's thrown his away. Knowing him, what he's feeling right now isn't anger. No, but it is the biggest defeat of his life. For two weeks he was all alone sorting out his own problems and now he knows that he will never again be truly happy without you. Please don't let pride demolish what you have," Brad said softly.

Melissa and Brittany both were watching him, awestruck. Apparently, Brad had a useful tongue when the necessity was present.

Melissa nodded and gave a weak, yet true smile. "Brad, Brittany, thank you so much, you're right. I shouldn't have done that, but Sean wont be so quick to take me back after what I did."

"Yes he will, love is the most powerful thing in the world, and two people would put aside anything for it, no matter what it is," Brittany said. Behind the stool, her hand slipped into Brad's.

Melissa finally seemed to have stopped crying. She perched her elbows on her knees and looked forward thoughtfully, taking in what her friends said, because she knew very well it would be foolish to block it out. Very foolish indeed…

* * *

Unbeknownst to Mike, he found Sean exactly where he'd slumped down, still staring into space, just as Ben and Christie were walking by as well. All three of them rushed to his side, and shook him quickly.

Sean looked to all of them like a beaten dog. Watery eyed and defeated he stared into each of their eyes as if he'd met them for the first time.

"Sean what happened?" Asked Christie. Sean opened his mouth, but no sound left it. He slowly closed it and bowed his head, breathing deeply to steady himself.

"He tried to talk to Melissa, but that didn't work out so well for him," Mike explained. In a sudden jolt Sean was on his feet, holding Mike's shirt, and Mike for that matter, a few inches of the ground.

"I did _nothing_ but try to revive the love I had with the only person who I will _ever_ love, Mike. And if you are here to taunt me about that and say I did something wrong-"

"I came here to talk to you, Sean, not yell," Mike said unworriedly. He stared into Sean's eyes, seeing the flames of fury just behind them, and watching them subside. Sean set him down.

"About what?"

"Melissa, she came up to us and was in a wreck.

"Is she okay?" Ben asked. Mike paused for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, and that's why I'm here. Sean, to tell you that she regrets everything that just happened. The words came from her own mouth. She was so defeated and could only talk about how she still loved you, that she thought it was best-what she did-but knows that it wasn't," Mike said.

Sean was sitting down staring at him with a very curious gaze. Was he joking? Melissa couldn't have been that quick to break down over…him…

"She wants you back, I left her with Brittany and Brad. They're probably taking care of convincing her finally that it has to be this way if love is what you two have," Mike said. Ben saw this the opportune moment to jump in.

"And love _is_ what you two have, Sean, everything I see that make's my life with Christie so perfect, it's what you two had. You guys simply slipped, but you can get back up." He said.Christie nodded.

Sean looked into the eyes of his three friends, and then back down. When everyone's shoulders sank in defeat, however, Sean hopped up to his feat and shook his head.

"You guys are right, you're right," he said with a weary smile. They beamed and helped him up.

"How about a bite to eat? Give Melissa a little time to gather herself?" Mike offered, Sean realized that his stomach was totally empty, and thought some food would to him well. He nodded and they entered the nearest restaurant.

* * *

Sean was nearly finished with his bizarre, yet tasty Wingly meal, as a very ruffled guard of Charle's home burst in the room. He spotted them and ran to meet the group.

"Dragoons! You must go to Charle's home, she has an urgent message to share with you, Mayfil is alive and something strong is leaving it in great numbers," he panted.

The Dragoons were on their feet, and once they learned that the others had been alerted and were on their way, they were too.

Everyone met in the silent front lobby of Charle's mansion, and as soon as the door shut behind them, Sean's and Melissa's eyes met, and they peered into each other until the silence was interrupted by Charle's voice. "Dragoons, a vast army has gathered within Mayfil, and is marching on the human cities! Their ruler has placed a field over the city and we could not even know of its existence until now," she said urgently.

"What?"

"Impossible!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Alright, when do you want us to go check it out," Sean said.

"We fear that transporting you to Mayfil would get you noticed or captured, or may be totally impossible. However, if you wish to infiltrate secretly, we can teleport you just outside of Mayfil. This is an urgent matter! Are you ready to go?" She said.

They all nodded, and Charle turned to Caron. "Sound the alarm, everyone is to meet at the teleporter spires," she ordered.

Caron teleported away and soon a loud alarm was ringing through the streets of the city, speaking in a Wingly tongue, evidently ordering them to gather at the pad.

The Dragoons burst out the door and jogged the short distance, joined close behind by the brilliant lights of a numerous amount of Winglies.

Authors' Note: Thanks once more for the reviews, thanks something ENORMOUS for the positive reviews, please keep it going!


	10. The End, PreMortem

Chapter Ten: The End, Pre-Mortem

With a flash of light the Dragoons were sent with speed to the outskirts of Mayfil. They hit the ground fast and watched from their out of sight position a dark bubble appear around the city.

"What the heck is that supposed to be?" Brad demanded.

"A shield," Sean said.

"What's gonna launch an attack on _this_ city?" Ben asked.

Suddenly, as if the black dome over the center of the city were merely a curtain, the blackness fell from the top to the ground. Before it dropped the landscape had been dismally, deathly quiet. But the dome, the curtain, the lie collapsed, and the roars of the very undead within exploded out in a boom that shook the chest of anyone for several miles.

Everyone perked to their elbows to look around, and then ran into a nearby, dreary building for cover. There they looked out, unseen, upon a city literally packed with rank, ugly humanoid monstrosities.

"Oh, that smells so bad," Melissa said.

Someone was saying something to agree, but before they got a word out another voice, a frighteningly familiar one, spoke out at a volume that spanned the entire city.

"The Humans have provided well! Go my undead warriors! Wreak havoc on their cities as payment, give me more soldiers! Spare no man, woman, or child!"

Zachwell's wings beat and his monstrous new form was lifted above his hoard of soldiers, composed of revived souls surrounded by the dead soil of Mayfil. They cried out, but could not physically object. The battalions formed lines and began marching out of the city, and Zachwell watched and laughed heartily.

"Yes, my revenge is coming, almost ready indeed," he said. And then, unexpectedly, he turned and peered back at the Dragoons through the very window they watched through. "You ought not to leave your cities unguarded, they shall not last long without your help!"

With that he threw an enormous stream of black, devastating magic at them. The Dragoons all tried to transform, but it was clear they'd be too late. A blast like that would kill them all.

They covered themselves as best they could in the short second, all but one. And suddenly a white blast of equal size buffered and canceled Zachwell's. Everyone looked to see Sean standing in the window, fully transformed. His face frightened them. The glare of pure murderous hatred gleamed openly, and his mouth was a straight line, for his lips were white with what could only be an inner fear. For seconds that seemed like hours they stared at each other, each directly into his opponent's eyes.

"Sean, we need to go," Ben said. He put a hand on Sean's pauldron and Sean snapped out of it and nodded. They all transformed and sped away from Mayfil, looking back to see a black river of soldiers headed in what would probably be their hometown's direction.

After noticing that they were not being pursued they settled in a small woodland to rest and talk. They settled in a comfortable spot, though comfort couldn't quite be granted to them. Sean sat brooding on a rock in silence for a moment, but silence is made to be broken.

"Okay, Sean," Rob said "was that who I think it was?"

"Yes."

"Did we not prevent him from coming here ever again?"

"We thought so."

"And he's back?"

"Yes."

"Well what are we going to do about it?"

"I don't know."

Everyone blinked, had they heard him say that about an opponent?

"How can you not know what to do?" Christie asked.

"Because I don't."

"There must be some way to send him back."

"How?"

"You're asking me?"

"Well I don't know Wingly magic, you're the supreme master of light."

_There is no way, it was a Wingly spell that almost no one knows, that sent him to the light world, and even fewer will have the strength to perform it._ The White-Silver Dragon said.

"Well, we cant send him anywhere, so we'll have to kill him." Melissa said. At this Sean laughed bitterly.

"Why do you think Anna killed herself to send him there? He controls Death, he cant die, if Anna tried it would have ended up all the same save his banishment, meaning I'd be dead, and maybe even every other human that lives now, or will ever live."

"Well we don't need to be pessimistic," Brittany said. Sean stood and looked her straight in the eye.

"Yeah, your right Brittany, I should look at the bright side of the unstoppable being that is responsible for the death of the only mother I ever had returning. I should keep my chin up at the fact that we let an army of undead march out of where they should be laying and into who knows where? I'm…so…stupid."

He sat back down. Everyone let him be silent, none of them hated Zachwell like he did, and none of them hated the fact that he couldn't be killed so much as he did.

Sean stood up, "We need to get back, prepare, and meet the army to stop it, and then, I don't know what to do about Zachwell, but maybe we'll figure something out, I don't know."

They all nodded, and transformed, but the flight home was a slow one.

* * *

Sean stood before his sink, leaning over it, staring intently at the half-depleted six-pack of beer on his counter, the crickets outside chirped in the cloak of night.

It could get his mind off it, could make him forget the almost certain upcoming death for him and all his friends, for Melissa. But what would emerge from that inebriation?

Sean stared hard, and picked up one can, he pulled the tab and smelled the fumes of the alcoholic liquid inside steam out as the pressure was released. It was indeed very enticing.

"But I don't think I'll ever let myself be that weak again," Sean said, he turned the can over and watched the golden, bubbly beer pour down the drain. He repeated the other process again, and then again.

Just as he shook out the last can and threw it in the trash, his doorbell rang.

"Heh, what kind of messenger comes at this time of night?" He said, the doorbell rang again twice.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" Sean said. He strolled leisurely to his front door, but situations can change very quick when one mystery is revealed, and such was this case. Sean did not expect Melissa on his front porch.

He stared at her for a moment in utter shock, looking shy and…something else, but what, he didn't know.

"Hi," she said.

"…Hey," Sean said. "Come on in."

She came in and he took her coat and hung it up. He followed her into the lobby, and once again that awkward stare engulfed them. Something was up, that was obvious to both of them.

"So, you need something?" Sean offered.

"Oh, not really, or, well," she trailed off and broke their gaze, suddenly looking to the floor. She looked doubtful about something.

"Something's wrong, I can tell, what's up?" Sean said.

"Well, um…Oh, geez…..Last night, you came up to me, asking for something that I thought would hurt us both if I gave it. And I turned you away, so harshly. Now, you must hate me, or be horribly mad at me, and I don't blame you one bit,-"

Sean put up a hand to stop her, "Melissa, I don't hate you, I could never hate you, whoever could is not worthy of knowing you personally. I consider myself the luckiest man alive to have once had you. I screwed that up all by myself, and I'll have to live with the repercussions of my failure if you don't want me back, I understand."

"No, no Sean that isn't what I came here for. I came to apologize, not because of my harshness, but for my blindness. Sean, I cant live without you either, I believe that you have changed, but I thought that you were weaker than you are and that I would be hurt again when I walked away. But when I was walking it hurt more to get farther from you with every step than it's ever hurt before," Melissa said, tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered the terrible pain in her broken heart. "Now I want to fix things."

"What?" Sean said, he knew exactly what she was saying, but joyous denial was overcoming him, though he wouldn't let him show it to her yet.

"I love you, more than I love anything in all this world, Sean, and I want to ask you for your forgiveness now," she said. At the emphasis she'd put in her words, backing them up with all her pouring heart, Sean was frozen.

"I love you too," The words left his mouth, and he didn't even think about it, because it was the plain and simple truth. She smiled, but her upper lip curled and she sobbed. She laid her head on his chest as she'd used to long ago, bringing back all the incredible feelings that over came them in days past, and now days to be present.

Sean wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. "Don't cry, don't cry,"

"Oh, they're happy tears," she said, sniffing. Tears also blurred Sean's vision, but he was too happy to let them run down his face. He squeezed her tight, in an embrace that lasted forever, yet only a few seconds.

When they separated she pulled back and looked him in the eyes, each was smiling small, weak smiles, but they were full of the greatest amount of happiness that they'd ever felt. Sean took his right hand and wiped one final tear sliding down her face, oh, how long he'd been longing to do that. He stroked her face.

The gap between their waiting lips lessened slowly, tenderly, savoring every moment of coming to meet the lips of the one they so loved. Finally, they met in a long, passionate kiss. Both held each other and held the kiss for so long that their jaws began hurting. Finally they separated, and leaned on each other's foreheads, leaving their eyes closed.

A warmth was flowing through Sean that he could not describe, it was hesitant, like suddenly dropping a few feet, and yet it was composed of every happiness that came with his love. Melissa smiled, as she felt the same way.

Finally they let go of each other, and held hands as they walked back into his living room. "Um, you wanna beer?" Sean asked.

"Eh, why not?"

"Too bad, I quit drinking," Sean said with a wink.

She laughed and hugged him again, then, they sat down on the couch, with her leaning heavily on his shoulder, just watching the television. During commercials, however, they had several more moments that will be left to privacy…

* * *

Mike was twisting his Spirit's chain around his finger nervously; Jenn would be home any minute. It was a horrible thing, really. He was being forced to reveal to Jenn who the other him was, on the night before he could die. Not favorable odds for her happiness at all.

The door latch clicked and it swung open, and Jenn walked in, carrying a paper bag full of groceries. "Oh, hi honey, home early from work?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Mike said, he took the bag for her and stopped her.

"Jenn, we have to talk, I'll toss these in the kitchen, have a seat," Mike said.

"Oh no, what's wrong?"

"You'll see."

She sat down and mike dropped the bag on the island counter and walked into the room. "You're going to want to sit down," he said.

Jenn looked worried. "What's this about?" She asked.

"Jenn, I've lied to you about a few things, but first, I really want to tell you what is true. First and foremost, I will never be lying when I say I love you with all my heart. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and be happy. What you don't know, is a part of me. I'm a part of something you could never imagine, and tonight, for reasons I'll explain later, I am going to reveal the other me to you," Mike said solemnly.

_Are you sure this is a good idea?_ The Golden Dragon asked.

Mike shook his head. The spirit glowed in golden light that illuminated the room. Mike's body expanded, the armor of the element earth surrounded his body, and wings sprouted from his back. When the transformation was finished, Mike was his Dragoon self in front of Jenn. Strangely, this, he felt, was the most significant transformation of his life, and it wasn't even in battle.

"Oh my GOD!" Jenn said, covering her mouth and jumping up onto the sofa's back in alarm. Mike put up a hand.

"Please calm down, it's still me! I promise,…Jenn?" He said.

His girlfriend was still staring at him in horror, but the shock seemed to ebb away when she saw that she wasn't in danger.

"This is my Dragoon self, the armor comes from the spirit of a dead Dragon, and this one is master of the earth element," he said.

"What are you talking about?" She demanded. Mike sighed, he was going to have to start from the beginning.

"Jenn I'm going to tell you a story, please hear me out, and please don't be scared and leave, it would tear me apart, please hear me out?" He implored.

"…..O…Okay," she said, breathing deep and sitting on the couch right.

Mike sighed again in relief. "Okay, this all began about 11,800 years ago,…"

Authors' Note: Sorry for the wait, we've been a little busy, but here it is and we hope you all liked it. Please keep up the reviewing and we'll have the next chapter up soon. Ciao!


	11. The Final Stand

Chapter Eleven: The Final Stand

"…And now, that army is headed straight for this city, straight for us, you," Mike said. Jenn had long ago become thoughtful as she heard Mike's story. However, she'd asked few questions.

"And, you have to stop them, you and your friends?" Jenn asked.

"Well, yeah," Mike said.

"Why? Why cant you stay here and let the army or something deal with it," she said.

"Jenn, please, they wouldn't do very well without some serious help. Plus, I told you that they cant know this stuff exists. You just knowing this puts you at a higher intelligence level than any government official anywhere in Endiness," Mike said.

This seemed to alarm her. "Why do YOU have to go then?" she asked exasperatedly. Mike looked to the floor, thinking of how it was to be put best.

"Jenn, I swore an oath, I know it's strange, but I did, when I was a teenager to defend something for the rest of my life, as long as I was able. But I didn't swear to a country, and not to a way of life, but to my species, all its countries and ways of life. My seven friends and I hold the weight of the world on our shoulders alone, because no one else is ready to. I'm going tomorrow, to fight for everyone, especially you. And I will burn in Hell before I let one single creature reach this city." He had already returned to his human form, and now sat down next to his wife. She took his hand, and wrapped her other arm around his back.

"But what if you don't come back?" She said, laying her head on his shoulder.

Mike sighed deeply, he had left out the part that Sean would not have, that they probably would all die on the morrow's battle. But something had to be done, Mike had never believed something physical to be unstoppable, only God, nothing else. This faithful thought strengthened him. He gently turned up her tear soaked chin with his finger, to look into her eyes.

"Jenn, I _will_ come back tomorrow, I _will _continue to fulfill my oath, and I _will_ continue to live with you, and be the happiest I've ever been in my life. He slipped off the couch, still holding her hand, as he took a knee."

"Jennifer Coelly, I love you with all my heart and soul, and I want to be with you up to and beyond the day I die. When I come home, and all this is settled, I want to spend every moment treasuring you, treasuring children, treasuring our shared responsibility. Will you marry me?" He asked through his thick wall of doubt.

She stared in a mysterious shock at him, her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide. Her brown hair slipped out from behind her ears and into her face, but she made no move to push it away.

When she did move it away though, happy tears were in her eyes, and her sobbing smile told Mike that he'd chosen his words right. "Oh, yes, yes, yes," she breathed.

Mike smiled and let his own tears well up. She threw herself onto him into a warm embrace that he somehow imagined having every day for the rest of his life, until they were somewhere he couldn't imagine being.

* * *

/The Next Day\

Rob opened his eyes, seeing his beloved Marian was still where she'd been when he'd fallen asleep, resting her head on his chest. He grazed her forehead with his lips in a soft kiss not meant to wake her. He climbed slowly out from under her, and set her head down on the pillow. She wouldn't let him leave if she woke up, that or she would have insisted on coming, but Robert didn't even want to think of that.

He left a small note to her, and decided there was no point in hiding anymore, so he transformed and flew to Sean's house. The note brushed off her desk and rubbed her face, waking her. It read:

Marian,

Gone to do what I said I had to last night. You must not follow me, I cant endanger you. If they reach the city, fly to Ulara, and fly fast. I love you, I'll see you soon.

Robert

She covered her mouth, while tears ran down her face. She nodded, and respected her husband's decision. She gathered herself together and decided that it would be best to just pretend like he'd gone to work, and in doing so, she jumped into the shower.

* * *

Rob found another note taped to Sean's door. "Your spirits will find us, we've gone to meet them, come quickly."

Rob jumped off and sped away, following the directions that his Dragon gave him. While flying over the city, several people gasped and pointed in awe at the green streak shooting across the morning sky.

Finally Rob reached the place, he dropped from the sky to find everyone standing in a line of Dragoons, looking solemn and unhopeful.

"Well I guess the party's all here," Rob said happily, hoping to lighten the mood a little, but he received barely a chuckle. In the distance there was a faint noise, growing gradually louder. The battlefield was a large valley a few miles outside the city, and there was no stopping some people from seeing what happened.

The Dragoons stood at the peak of one side of the bowl, while the oncoming Dead Army was nearing the opposite side. Screams were heard, but none of the Dragoons could make out what they were saying. They just waited, one more moment until the front lines of the enemy were visible.

And there they were, black, like the soil of Mayfil, from whence they came were the decrepit forms of unlife forced upon tortured souls. Finally, now that their voices were not muffled by the hill side, the Dragoons could hear their battle cry. It haunted everyone and chilled them to the core, for the cry was not one of defiance, but a request. Every single warrior in that army was screaming the same two words, no doubt the only free will Zachwell's sick mind let them have. The words they screamed were "Kill us."

"Oh my God," Brittany said. She took Brad's arm and leaned on him in horror. Brad took her hand and looked gravely at the forces before him. The cries of the hoard remained the same, yet they began their charge instantly, down the hill at incredible speed at the first obstacle in their way: Eight lone humans.

Sean was tense and ready, and totally unsuspecting when Melissa slipped her hand into his. He jumped, but smiled anyway. Melissa had somehow given him hope that the day was not lost. He would keep an eye on her at all times, she would not be hurt. He clasped her hand tightly

"Let's give these poor souls what they want, a quick release," he said. He leapt into the air and the other seven followed right behind him. He first fired a volley to lower the numbers of the mass. "Divine Dragon Ball!"

The field became alive with the spotted fires as great numbers fell in the flames, and the tortured souls within were released.

"Explosion!"

"Star Children!"

"Freezing Ring!"

"Thunder Kid!"

"Wing Blaster!"

"Meteor Strike!"

"Death Dimension!"

The calls of the elemental Dragoons rang out and flashes of fire, light, ice, lightning, rock, blackness, and deadly winds tore through another great number of the enemy forces.

"Let's finish this!" Sean said, electrified.

The warriors dove down with death-defying speed into the mass, slashing, stabbing, smacking, pounding, slicing, punching, and kicking their way through the forces.

Long hours flew by, and the Dragoons were awed at how much longer they were holding out. They fought their way through the stinking soldiers of the evil city, and began seeing their fellow Dragoons more and more, until the last soldier fell to Brittany's mallet.

"That…took…forever!" Brad panted, sitting down on the black soil covering the green plant life below them.

"No…kidding!" Melissa said.

"No one….saw Zachwell I'm assuming?" Sean asked, receiving seven nos. "Then…it isn't over."

"Are you kidding me?" Ben yelped. He looked as though he was ready to contradict Sean, but the roar from behind the hill drowned him out tirelessly.

"What was that?" Christie asked.

The Dragoons took wing and flew to the top of the hill, and beheld a sight that shocked and horrified them all yet again.

"This….sucks," Mike said. Thoughts of his Jennifer swarmed his head, filling him with the sorrow that he was going to be forced to break his promise.

"Don't all of you DARE to give up now," Sean yelled suddenly. He stood tall again. "We've come this far, and for a decade we've defended human kind from uncounted enemies. I will NOT give up now," he said forcefully. Melissa looked into his eyes, gleaming with self-developed hatred; hatred for the even more massive army before them, hatred for Zachwell, hatred for himself not a month ago, due to being so weak.

Then his eyes looked into Melissa's. Their hard glare softened, and he diminished to half power. He took Melissa's hands, and clasped them tightly.

"Melissa, I've never stopped loving you, and I don't suspect that I ever will, until and beyond my death I am going to love you, and hopefully be with you, and that is all I could ever ask for. If the day of our deaths should be today, I'll hold no regrets, but until I die, I wont let you, or any of our friends fall, I swear on it," Sean said, smiling.

"Oh," she said and hugged him. "I love you so much."

Ben and Christie shared a kiss and a hug and a whispered moment together, as did Brad and Brittany. Mike and Rob both looked defeated, they feared to never stare into their own lover's eyes ever again, but the hatred of the possibility swelled up inside them, giving them strength and morale.

A war cry tore from the crumbled lips of the Mayfil soldiers, shaking everyone. The behemoth force took a step forward, then another, and proceeded this process until they were in a full charge.

Sean transformed back to full power, and took Melissa's hand one more time. "Stay by me, we can do this," he said deeply. She nodded and kissed him.

One moment of hesitation followed that kiss, where the Dragoons were at piece, standing there waiting for what could be their doom in the guise of an army. The crumbling soil, with a soul shimmering through every once in a while was actually very captivating. Their sharp weapons gleamed in the mid day sunlight, and one by one, every Dragoon took a breath.

"All or nothing, here we-" But Ben's voice was drowned out by another war cry, though it wasn't that of the oncoming army. It was coming from behind. Sean spun around to fire his cannon at the force behind them, but it was no enemy.

Three helicopters tore over the hill's peak, and with a powerful machine gun, tore three lines through the forces. Then, the Dragoons heard the battle cry of the Endiness United Armed Forces.

"Up the hill ladies! We got a continent to protect! LET'S GOOOO!" came a demanding, militant voice.

"Life and Death for Endiness!" Roared the army of the humans as they marched in legions up the hill. The leader reached the top first and spotted the Dragoons.

His eyes widened behind his sunglasses and he whipped out a pistol and pointed it at them. "And what in all the fiery depths of Hell are you supposed to be?"

The Dragoons were awestruck at this sudden uprising. One thing was for certain though, their secret wouldn't be a secret for long.

"We're the janitors, we clean up the filth for you guys," Sean said, not ready to be nice, because he knew they wouldn't be believed at first.

"And if I don't buy that?" He yelled.

"Then I'll have to disarm you until you do," Sean said.

"Try it!"

Sean suddenly was in this man's face. He grabbed the gun, held it in front of the military official's face, and crushed it with his hand. One second later, however, another one was in his face. He reached for it, but the man grabbed his wrist and turned it clockwise. To an average human, it would be painful, but Sean could fly, his feet left the ground and he spun with the man, and placed his sword on the man's throat.

"I dare you," he said, puffing smoke from an exaggeratedly large cigar in Sean's face. Sean didn't blink.

"If you were my enemy, I would have. Now, one final demonstration," Sean said.

He stomped his feet into the ground, and his cannon swelled up. "DIVINE DRAGON CANNON!"

The white bolt released itself with a pounding recoil, and a five foot wide beam ripped through anything in its way, all the way to the back of the forces, a half mile away.

"I could also do that, to you and your comrades. My friends and I have been on your side, MUCH longer than you know, my name is Sean Mcmann," Sean said. He transformed to half power, and put forth a hand.

The army official dropped his cigar on the ground and stomped it. "Colonel Jeff Sanders, Head of the 1st unit of the Defense of Endiness Armed Forces. What are you eight, exactly?" He asked, taking Sean's hand.

"Warriors granted the power of the 8 most powerful Dragons that ever existed. The one's put down for the Dragon Campaign, but myself. My Dragon belonged to Dart Feld some eight hundred years ago," Sean said.

"No kidding?" Col. Jeff said.

"Nope," Sean said.

"Wow, thought the Dragoons were a legend, myself, but loved the stories as a kid, nice to meet you, sir," Col. Jeff said.

"Likewise, now what're you all doing here?" Sean said.

"Well if a group this size comes from a place like Mayfil to a civilian city, we're gonna know about it, and when we guessed there was some fighting going on, we figured we'd better see what's going on. We noticed it was an army two hours ago on a recon. Mission. So we gathered the forces together, and here we are," Jeff said.

"I see, well I'll tell you what, the helicopters are fine, but bullets from your forces wont do much," Sean said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, that's why we have these," Sean said, indicating he sword. "Do your men know any close-hand combat? Do they have close combat training?"

"Yea, sure. TROOPS! DISGARD FIREARMS AND DRAW YOUR SWORDS!"

The hills sang as an uncountable number of shimmering blades slid out of their sheaths.

"ALRIGHT MEN, LET'S KICK THIS SHIN-DIG OFF THE RIGHT WAY!" The Colonel ordered.

The Endiness Defense Forces rushed forward, screaming. The Dragoons took to the skies, where Sean figured it would be worthwhile to give them Healing Fogs. This battle, was not at all near over…

Authors' Note: Thank you again for the reviews, everyone. It seems the action has finally arrived in full, we hope you enjoy the war for Endiness. Please Review!


	12. One Day Later

Chapter Twelve: One Day Later

The base camp buzzed with life as numerous soldiers rallied here and there to perform their assigned functions. Those without current functions were put to training, and so on and so forth. Colonel Jeff and the Dragoons were in the largest tent, to discuss a matter that grieved them all.

"That battle yesterday was only a skirmish," Jeff said, laying out a map and several black and white bars. "The black is the enemy, we're the white."

Along a valley stretched out over the land they were situated in, there were three large masses of black bars, with the center group containing the largest bar.

"What's that?" Sean asked.

"That, recon reports is an enormous skeletal beast ridden by some kind of demon that no one can identify," Jeff said. "Now, we'll split up our own forces to combat the oncoming three battalions, and send air support and cavalry from this base camp," Jeff said, placing white bars to meet the black bars, but Sean stopped him.

"That enormous beast is something none of you can handle, we have to face it alone," Sean said. Jeff looked to his advisors, and eventually they nodded. Sean grabbed several bars from the middle section of the defenders, and spread them out evenly over the other two groups. "We'll take ourselves to this place and fight with them."

"Alright, sounds good," Jeff said. "Do you know who this guy is?"

Sean nodded. "All too well."

"Okay, I sense a time deepened hatred, so I'll just be safe and let you have your way with that, then. I'll accompany the Eastern troops to ensure that you won't be flanked, and our best will go to the right, to flank _them_," Jeff said.

"This is going to be a fight for the history books," Ben said.

"Kid, this is the stuff statues in town square are made of," Jeff said, lighting a cigar. "All we have to do is make sure there's a town square to admire us."

They all laughed uneasily, and left the tent, one by one, until Jeff and Robert were the only ones left inside. Robert leaned on the table, looking away to hide the wide smile on his face, while Jeff was putting the map away.

"So...You're...Colonel Sanders?" Rob finally said, fighting with all his might not to burst into laughs and tears at the irony. This of course, all occurred before Jeff put a gun barrel to the back of Robert's neck.

"Son, no one, not even my own men, so I mean NO ONE, calls me that. I'll warn you once, don't ever call me that, EVER," he said, and put the gun away, and left the tent.

* * *

The Dragoons decided to go for a walk outside the base camp, never had they been in so public a place, and stared at so much for being what they were, the secret would be out when this little war was over.

The sun had set below the hills a few moments earlier, so the orange glow still kept the scene visible. The Dragoons sat down in a small dry patch where no Mayfil soil burdened the ground.

"This is kinda strange," Mike said. "Everyone knows who we are now."

"Yeah, I don't think they'll handle it the right way when this is all over, though," Sean said.

"How could they treat it a wrong way?" Rob asked, smiling. "We'll have fame, fortune, all the gratitude we've been earning for ten years behind the scenes. We'll be friggin celebrities!"

"I don't want that, do you see what fame does to some people?" Ben asked.

Christie nodded, as did Sean, Melissa, Brittany and Brad.

"But…well then we'll just go somewhere out of the way," Rob said. In his heart he didn't desire the attention, he knew it wouldn't end well, right now he just wanted to act like nothing was wrong.

"Right," Mike said with a chuckle.

They continued laughing, until suddenly a bright white light appeared in front of them, taking up a large area of their private gathering.

When the light went away, there were fourteen Winglies floating on their magical wings of light, gowned in shining armor littered with symbols of protection and strength. Their silver hair stopped bobbing as they set onto the earth and walked towards the Dragoons.

Everyone recognized them but Sean. These were the masters of the elements, and the arms men that had trained the Dragoons.

"Greetings, Dragoons," Said the foremost, a Wingly with a red flame painted to his breast plate.

"Halonorie, how's it goin?" Ben said.

"We know about the battle yesterday, and if this is a war to save Endiness, the leaders in Ulara decided that we Winglies must do our fair share for the small bit of it we still hold as our own," Halonorie said.

"No way!" Ben said, pumping his fist into the air. "This is awesome!"

"Who are these guys?" Sean asked.

"They're the Winglies that trained us with our weapons and magic while you were gone. These guys are amazing, they're just as good as a Dragoon, with that many more years of experience," Ben said.

"Really now," Sean said, he shook Halonorie's hand, and said hello. "Welcome to our resistance."

"We are proud to play our small part in it," Halonorie answered.

"Come back to the base camp, we'll tell the humans, if they're anything less than thrilled, we'll see to them," Ben said, laughing.

The humans treated the Winglies, hmm….well Ben did not have to "see to them," as he had put it.

The Winglies were given large tents to sleep in and their centuries of wisdom was of a great aid in the planning of the battle to come. Finally at ten o'clock they called it a night and the encampment went to their rest.

* * *

The morning was a nervous one, so many couldn't stomach their breakfasts, but ate them anyway. The Dragoons left early to join a recon team to see where the army was. They crept up a hill, hearing the uproar on the other side. The Dragoons were startled to see the force they volunteered themselves against.

The army covered every inch of visible land, to the horizon, and there stood their leader, their king-for they were all dead-Zachwell, mounted on a giant skeleton, or half skeleton. The legs were gone, as was the hip; only the torso, arms and head remained. A shrill cry erupted from his cracked, evil lips, and the army answered, eight arrows fired out and the Dragoons jumped back as they struck the dirt just before them. Each arrow had a note attached to it, with a different Dragoon's name on each one, under the name, it read:

Come to me, I am yours, my name is Demise.

Sean crumpled up his letter and threw it to the ground. "Let's get back to camp, it's time."

The Dragoons had the alarm raised, and the soldiers got in their legions, Colonel Jeff had lit another cigar and began firing out his commands at a volume few other humans could reach.

Within 15 minutes, they were ready, and a force of equal size to the invaders marched to confront them.

"I'd like this height advantage," Jeff said to Sean as they stood staring down upon the army before them. The battle was seconds away, and adrenaline rushed through the veins of every human being for miles. "I'd like it if guns did any good, anyway."

Sean nodded. "Yeah, well you can still have explosives, and by all means use them, all the help we can get, we'll take."

"Oh, I'm way ahead of you there," Jeff said. "Bring it in!" Two soldiers walked in, with a large case in each hand. They set them on the floor and Jeff opened them and marveled. "Stingers, eight of them. Oh, I love a good explosion." He picked it up and loaded the first missile.

"WANNA MESS WITH MY CONTINENT NOW?" Jeff bellowed and fired the missile into the mass before him, the very front line. Twenty fell, at least, and by the time Sean was done counting that, Jeff had fired again and again, a little too happily.

"You like explosions?" Sean asked, Jeff nodded, breathing heavily. Sean chuckled. He turned to his own comrades, and spoke.

"How about holding off a charge? One by one, let's see those new attacks you guys have been talking about," Sean said, but Ben shook his head.

"Can't do it, we'll be wiped out magically AND physically," he said. The others agreed with him. However, Halonorie stepped up, and put forth a hand to interject.

"I'd like to back Sean on this, it would greatly reduce their number, and I count they have thousands more than we do, each more capable than an average human. Diminishing their numbers could be the first step to a victory. I know you all are relatively young with your newest abilities, so before arriving here our greatest potion makers derived this," he said, and with his other hand revealed a vial that appeared to contain a swirling liquid of ever elemental color, with a white and orange light in the center.

"What is that?" Sean asked.

"We call it Moon Fog," Halonorie answered, "It's a hybrid of a Moon Serenade, and a Healing Fog. The compositions are very unfriendly towards each other, and we could barely create eight, but it is an advantage to have them, nonetheless."

"No kidding it is!" Rob shouted, he graciously took one from the Wingly that had taught him his newest attack, and flew into the air. The army was beginning to advance.

He pocketed the Moon Fog and tore upwards, above the clouds. There, where he was in the center of the enemy's body, he pulled his spear close to him, hugging it to his body, with the blade pointed downwards. He beat one wing furiously, and let himself fall. The spinning motion was soon so great that it pulled the very clouds down with him. Twisting and turning, frightening everyone, but the hardest part for Rob was yet to come. He saw in a flash that he was close to the ground, and put the spear out in front of him. Then, just as his feet touched down, he smacked the spear head into the earth with his full physical and magical force, the air became a vacuum, and the soldiers were pulled in a giant ball surrounding Rob. He felt his skin tearing, as if the Jade Dragon had possessed him and was tearing through his final outer layers of flesh. His eyes bulged and glowed bright green, and finally, he let all his power go, in one gigantic burst.

"TEMPEST!" He cried. The boom was deafening, and enemy soldiers flew at incredible speed in every direction. Rob fell to his knees, with his vision blurring slowly and blackening around the edges, with final thoughts of desperation, he grabbed the vial and downed it quickly. It tasted horrible, but just as quickly as the last drop touched his tongue, he was himself again. He flew back to his comrades.

"How was that?" he asked, he slapped Mike's hand, "I like yours, go on and give it a shot."

Mike shrugged. He'd never been magically dominant before, and performing this attack took a greater toll on him than any of the others, but with this Moon Fog, he was promised it would work, so with a trusting heart, he flew to a thick region of soldiers.

He took up his axe and held it high, filling it with his magic. When it was glowing a vibrant gold, he gathered up all his might, and threw it, spinning into the earth. When the glow stopped, a small earthquake began, and fissures tore under the feet of dozens of undead men. Mike then flew downwards, into them, and through them, to find his axe. When he grasped it finally he willed his element to embrace him, hug him around his being.

He flew upwards, and pulled rock, dirt, and molten magma with him, upwards to ground level, and then fifty feet more, the ground sunk around him, and the soldiers fell into the rut. Then, when he was high enough, he let loose physical and magical fury, and in a blast, threw the boulders of earth down on his enemies. "TITAN'S TEARS!"

He quickly let himself fall to save energy as he drank his potion, and just as he felt revived, he pulled up and rejoined his friends. He looked to Brittany, and laughed, "can you even pull yours off here?"

She put her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow. "Didn't you pay attention in elementary geography? Water's everywhere." She said and flew away. She felt it, in the clouds, in a sea nearby, under the ground, and she called for it. Water from every non living thing was torn from its place and pulled to her, and soon a gigantic bubble surrounded her, filling up the sky, with a shining shadow cascading on the ground. Suddenly, as if it were in an invisible container, the water began to spill over near the enemy. As it fell, it began to freeze. Suddenly Brittany tore out from inside it and bellowed "FROZEN TORRENT!" And with that the entire stream of falling water became ice, falling just in front over her. It struck the ground and shattered into thick, pale blue chunks, yet as Brittany pulled up, the boulders of ice followed her, tumbling over numerous individuals unlucky enough to have not escaped.

She finally let go, and the ice thawed and melted, and she drank her potion while she let the water return to the places it had previously been. Drenched now, she returned to her friends.

Melissa volunteered to go next. Sean sat back, wanting to see how hers went. Her attack would only last as long as she let it, and it took an amazing amount of energy. She did not have to fly far, however, over her friends would do. Feeble arrows flew through the air, but a weak Rose Storm from Robert prevented anyone from being even scratched. The enemy charged, but Melissa had already begun. She closed her eyes and envisioned the solar system as far as the earth. With all her effort she placed a black bubble around it, she heard gasps of shock, and knew it was working. She then pulled it inwards, trapping all light, and enclosed it just past Earth, not wanting to endanger the sun.

Suddenly everything was deathly cold. Sean spun around, hearing a growl, something inhuman was behind them, snarling, but walking by, passing them. Then he heard Melissa's voice. "DEMONS OF DARK, UNLEASH!" The moderately silent "demons" beside the Dragoons bellowed now, and thumped forward, soon cries were heard from the ranks of the undead army, fear and agony as some were ripped to shreds. But this lasted only a moment. The strain on Melissa's body was tearing her apart from the inside out, she drank the potion just as she let the spell fade, and avoided passing out. She floated safely down by Sean's side.

"Wow," Sean said. He gave her a kiss, "Amazing."

"Thanks, you're so sweet," she said in a child's tone. Sean laughed and watched Christie step up.

"Thanks a whole bunch, Melissa, you pent up the sun's light, now it's got an even bigger urge to push outwards. This make's my spell all the easier," she said.

She took to the skies as well, drawing her bow. She drew an arrow of shining pure light, and pointed it up towards the sun. She drew it back, and as she pulled, not only the arrow, but the bow itself was engulfed in light and increased in size. Soon, from tip to tip the shining bow was at least fifteen feet in length. Christie's wrists hurt from the effort of holding the arrow, which struggled increasingly harder to be released.

She finally felt it was ready, and to herself she whispered. "Send the sun a message, we need him here." With a loud, low twang the arrow let loose, flying into the sky, and yet it seemed it merely grew longer. A rope was attached to the light.

Finally it stopped, and Christie grabbed it, and yelled. "PURIFYING LIGHT!" She pulled down hard on the rope, and instantly an intense light shined down on the enemy army, blinding everyone, and scorching some on the edges. They cried out in agony, in unison, even Zachwell, who was weakest against this element.

When the shining finally stopped, his vile veins pulsated, including one on his temple, as his anger rose. "ENOUGH! REGROUP! HIT THEM NOOWW!" He roared, and the soldiers angrily tore up the hill.

"Uh, might wanna get the rest of those attacks out quickly," Sean said as Christie returned. Brad stepped up.

"Ben, get yours ready, I'll hold them off with mine." He said. Ben nodded and took to the skies. He curled into the ball, and as his concentration hardened, the symbols on his armor began glowing with heat.

Brad got in a side-stance, and faced the oncoming attackers. He put his left hand over his spirit, and pulled it away, an electric current soared with it, then his right hand followed the same procedure. He threw both bolts into the sky, they grew and arced over the army, but Brad kept them distracted with smaller bolts, taking out several soldiers. Then he rose up his hand, and he bellowed. "MAXIMUM VOLTAGE!"

The electricity in the sky changed color, and suddenly, struck the earth in a thousand different rays of violent energy. The shockwaves knocked every soldier to the ground, and even Zachwell's beast fell to an elbow.

Everyone looked to Ben, whose heat could be felt from twenty feet away now. His attack required the most time, because fire was not found just anywhere. But he felt he was ready. The skies darkened, until it was nearly evening-dark over both armies. Orange lightning cascaded through the thick black clouds, and rumbled loudly, filling the armies undead hearts with fear.

Ben threw his limbs out, and his spirit was shining, white hot now. Silence literally engulfed the entire plain, seeing this light. Nothing was heard until the strange skies began coughing, and then Ben's voice filled the battlefield, and miles beyond it. "RAIN OF FIRE!"

Gigantic balls of flame tore down from the black clouds, burning as they fell, and as they struck the dirt. Dozens of soldiers perished as each sphere of flame hit and the field was set ablaze.

"Holy-"Sean began, but the remainder of the profanity was cut off by the booms.

One particularly large one was heading straight for Zachwell. But he merely waited until it got to him, then he jumped up. "HAAA!" He yelled, and with a great effort, smacked it down onto his own forces. His hand was charred, and black, yet with some concentration, it healed before his eyes.

"I see why you are second in command once again," Zachwell said, watching Ben fall from the sky.

Christie fed his vial to him, and the soldiers of the Defense of Endiness charged forward, and cleaved their way into the frightened undead forces, the battle could only go one way now, or so they all thought…

Authors' Note: Hey y'all, sorry about the wait, it is TOTALLY Spike's fault, he's busy with the county fair in our area and all the hecticness is over, so here's another chapter, we hope you aren't mad, please review, ciao!


	13. Love and War

Chapter Thirteen: Love and War

Zachwell's armies were torn, frightened and running, despite his demands for them to fight to the death, the fear that could overtake a human soul was too strong for a weak being to resist. "Oh, back to the Inferno, with ALL of you!" He said, he raised a hand and threw it down, and suddenly, as if nothing had been holding them previously, the filth of Mayfil fell to the earth and the souls soared in the direction of the Death City.

Zachwell's beast dissolved as well, taking the form of his sickle again, and he followed close behind. "Come to my home if any dare challenge _me_," he said.

Sean gripped his sword tightly. "I dare, you disgusting creature. Colonel, stay here and see that nothing is left, he probably wont have eliminated all his forces, some may be lying low waiting for the guard to go down. Don't give them the chance," Sean said. "The Dragoons are going to Mayfil."

He took off without another word. Everyone said quick goodbyes and took off behind him, struggling to keep up.

Sean was filled with some of the most contradictive feelings he'd ever experienced. Part of him desperately struggled to turn around away from the course. The other part held strong and kept Sean steady in flight.

Soon enough, the gradual decrease in the amount of light breaking through the ominous clouds was notable. The city was near. Within a few hours, they'd arrived. Sean landed heavily on both feet, breaking the dirt and throwing dust.

Zachwell was somewhere, but where? He heard the torn air getting louder as his comrades soared in behind him. He waved behind him, signaling to be careful in their descent. They heeded his warning, but what was about to happen, no amount of caution could prevent.

As soon as they touched down on the earth, there was a flash of red. Sean spun around, expecting some attack on him from behind, but he beheld a horror that tore his heart more painfully than the most hopeless moment of the fight with Melbu Frahma.

Seven black bubbles surrounded his friends. At first everything was silent, and then-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Roared every single one of them. Red lightning flashed within the spheres, revealing each of his friends. Their faces were contorted, and twisted with the utmost look of fear and pain. Sean fell back onto the dirt in horror. Then they began calling out his name, each and every one of them, calling on him to help them.

"Do you see how they all call for you when the fear and pain becomes so much?" Came Zachwell's voice from behind. Sean spun around and beheld him standing not five feet away, arms crossed. "It's pitiful, but I suppose all humans need someone to look for when hopelessness surrounds them like these bubbles. You'd better help them," he said with a cackle. Sean glared at him, but his friends cries of fear and agony were too powerful, and engulfed his hatred. Sean ran forward and kicked the spheres, sliced at them, pounded them with all his might, but nothing worked.

"I think you need a little motivation," Zachwell said. "The spheres will now shrink until each and every one of them is compressed to as dense as my power can make them. They should all fit in my hand quite easily…all seven of them."

Sean glared fiercely, and turned around, noticing that the spheres were indeed shrinking. Frantically he peered into each one, whispering to them. He continued this until he saw the dark shape and long hair writhing inside. He pressed his face and hands onto the ball.

Tears mixed with blood ran down and all over Melissa's face. "Sean, please help me…." She pleaded desperately, crying out. She placed her hand to match Sean's, but a lance of magic shocked it and she cried out again. Sean banged on it, grunting like an animal with the effort he put into pounding the sphere. Finally, with heaving lungs, he leaned against the ball and peered in.

"Melissa…." He said helplessly. "I cant break it, I cant," he said. His tears ran onto the black ball and ran down to drip to the dust on the bottom. Inside, after a moment, he saw her head nod.

"It's okay…" she said.

"No, no no no no…." Sean said shaking his head and pounding the ball again. He barely heard Zachwell's cackling behind him. By now Melissa was in the fetal position, and most of the men were becoming frantically compressed, they too cried out, unable to see Sean apparently.

"Sean?" Melissa whispered faintly.

"Yes?" he said, pressing up against the ball.

"…I love you, with all my heart and soul," she said. The flow of tears increased twofold, and Sean closed his eyes. Would this be the last time he'd hear that? If so he would not waste it.

"I love you to, Melissa, since the day we met I've loved you, and until the end of time I am going to keep loving you," Sean said.

She began to sob, cringing together tightly. Now the screams were deafening. Sean couldn't take it, he slid his finger over his lips. "Ssshhhhhhh, everything will be okay…just a little longer.."

"A little longer? You're giving up?" Zachwell said. "How quick! I love it!"

"…No, I'm not giving up."

Sean spun around and fired a quick blast at Zachwell. It was an act more out of anger than strategy, but when Zachwell dodged around it and charged, he felt lucky as he threw out his blade's tip to meet his stomach.

There was a flesh cutting sound, and Zachwell's eyes widened with pain. His jaw clenched and he looked down at his stomach, and the sword cutting into it. He spat out, and coughed, slowly sinking to a knee.

Sean watched the bubbles vanish, and his friends-bloody and beaten, yet alive-fall to the ground in heaps. They lost their armor as consciousness slipped away, and the spirits fell to the earth.

"…eh heh heh heh heh heh," came the voice of the impaled demon.

Sean looked down at the creature dangling from the end of his blade, and their eyes met again. There was no more fear or pain in his eyes.

Zachwell stood up, and grabbed Sean's blade, and pulled himself closer, until his face was inches from Sean's. "Immortality, such benefits to being unable to die."

With a wave of his hand the spirits were ripped from their owners' necks. They floated together over his hand, and placed themselves in it. He watched them. "Would not one of these dragons desire a joining of power with the already unstoppable?"

Not even a glitter shone from any spirit, Zachwell appeared neither disappointed nor surprised. "Pity, it is not often one has the opportunity to stretch perfection's limits." They fell to the ground, and Zachwell drew Sean's blade from his stomach.

"This belongs to you," he said, offering the sword. Sean took it slowly, but there was no trick, Zachwell's sickle merely appeared in his dominant hand, and he readied.

"Why are you doing this?" Sean asked, hoping to buy time and find a strategy.

"Why? Why shouldn't I?" Zachwell asked.

"Because besides the Dragoons, humans have never done anything to you," Sean said. Zachwell scoffed and laughed.

"Fool, you see only the surface of my hate, think harder, what do I _truly _abhor?" Zachwell asked, then threw down the sickle's blade, aimed at Sean's neck. Sean parried and attempted a counter swipe with his sword. Zachwell spun the shaft, catching the blade and thrusting it downward. He smacked Sean in the face with the blunt end and kicked him away.

"What is the greatest source of all my anguish and pain?" He demanded. He kicked Sean again, then grabbed his arm and flung him upwards. On his ascent, Sean fired down, but it was dodged easily. Zachwell soon joined Sean in the air, right behind him. He smacked the back of Sean's head, and then several more blows riddled his torso and face. He then wrapped his arms around Sean and beat his enormous wings, sending them downward. Sean's wings flapped, but he was dazed, and the Divine Dragoon's wings were pinned to his back.

"Remember that day?" Zachwell whispered.

Sean's eyes widened. Anna had thrown him into the world of light! That was what he detested so violently. Zachwell threw Sean in a heap, and the ground vibrated as Sean struck dirt.

"Yes, I see the realization in your eyes. Anna, the accursed Wingly. She threw me into that torturous world of light. That place was created by the Winglies, and Wingly magic maintains it. Humans mean nothing to me, they are undeserving of my favor or foul feelings. They, in all their ignorance and stupidity, merely make the perfect soldiers, the perfect conduit to my destination."

"Which is?"

"A world without light, where darkness dominates all things, as the ruling element, where my kind may roam freely and never know fear of pain," Zachwell said. He smiled.

"Enjoying my monologueing? By now I'm sure you realize there is no escape. You have followed every path as I have predicted, you have made every decision I knew you would. If there is one human I hate, if there is one human I give more than one look and consideration to, it is, and always has been, you."

"Me?"

"You. Always you slip just by a hair from my clutches. Always you fall back on friends or family and with a miracle my plans are foiled, until now. I know you now, Sean Mcmann. And now you are not of the slightest concern to me. You are merely a human I like less than other humans, and when I don't like someone, I rid myself of them, slowly. But for you, I suppose you can keep your soul, and your voice, but I will have your body serve me for eternity, hearing your despair with pleasure in my black, black heart," Zachwell said with a smile, he punched Sean, then kicked him again and again, and Sean fell back each time, unable to find the speed to block successfully.

"Your friends will die, and join my army," He said, locking up with Sean, looking him dead in the eye.

"Your army is defeated," Sean said, pushing Zachwell away. He cackled.

"Once again, not following the full story. It is my army of the _dead_. You cannot take life from an individual that does not have possession of it. I am, however in possession of the souls of every evil human that dies every day, and has died for millennia. The Inferno is mine to command," he said.

"Yes, think of it, an army that cannot be broken down, only made larger with every battle. My plan is perfect, and thanks be to a little luck, I may finally execute my ultimate revenge on Winglies," Zachwell said, "Light will be a thing of the past."

"Never," Sean said. Zachwell merely laughed in his face and shoved him back. Sean fell near the pile of spirits, and the light one glinted.

_Use the White Silver Dragon, Sean! _The Divine Dragon said.

Sean threw out his hand and as soon as contact was made, the mixed armor swarmed around Sean's Divine Dragoon armor, and the hybrid Dragoon pointed his cannon at Zachwell, and fired.

Zachwell created a black shield for the beam of magic to collide with. With little effort, the beam was cancelled out. "What luck that a boy named Frank Darteth helped me escape without me using all the strength and energy I've built up in the light realm," Zachwell said. "I am more powerful than ever before."

He threw Sean down to the ground. "Give up, it wont be as painful if you surrender to me now," said Zachwell.

Sean laid his head down and looked to the side, his sword became loose in his hand, and his muscles began to relax. This fight was over before it began, and he was only causing himself more pain by keeping it going. What could he do to an immortal?

_You show me one history book stating as a fact that Zachwell cannot be killed,_ The Divine Dragon said. _The other Dragons and I have a plan, but it will demand all of your strength, you may even die._

"Well let me hear it," Sean whispered.

_The Dragons will allow you to use their powers, until Zachwell is proven immortal, or dead. Think of it, the combined power of the true ruler of every element, Zachwell shouldn't stand a chance._

Sean looked to the pile of spirits, and they glowed intensly. He felt each one's anxiousness to be used, to save the world. His fingers wrapped around his sword hilt again and he reached out to them.

He placed his hands over all of them, and then let go of the two he already had. The eight glowing spheres glowed their intense colors, and floated over Sean. Suddenly he was lifted onto his feet, and the Spirits began flying around him, zipping this way and that, increasingly faster. Finally, the largest one struck Sean in the chest, and the other seven preceded in throwing themselves over that. A different power filled Sean's body with each impact. His limbs involuntarily threw themselves out with the force.

Flashes of light illuminated Mayfil, contrasting to the dreary landscape. Suddenly, the power was too great, and Sean let out a bellow that rattled windows and shook the air. Armor sprung from the now merged spirits, spreading over the chest, flashing every color until it was dark black, and several inches thick. Sean's legs were stretched, but not in the way of the Divine Dragon's. Rather, both halves of the leg lengthened slightly, and a heavy metal boot shaped as a large, clawed, animal's foot surrounded it.

Eight wings tore from Sean's back, gigantic wings, one of every elemental color, larger than any other Dragoon. The pauldrons each had four spikes jutting outwards, and the cannon disappeared altogether. Or rather, it was divided in half and spread among both arms. The gauntlets of this Dragoon each had four prongs that clipped into place as the transformation continued. The tips vibrated with a power that could be felt by Sean. However, the greatest change was occurring not on Sean's body, but on his head.

He closed his eyes, but when he opened them, the vision was insanely more acute, and in a wider range. Eight dragon-slitted eyes blinked when he blinked, and a helmet with eight horns wrapped completely around his head. His outcry was muffled by a muzzle that covered his mouth, with slits that made breathing easy.

The light slowly died down, the bangs ceased, and in the center of a small crater stood Sean, with his body stretched to nearly nine feet tall. The wings shook off magical sparks, and the man's outcry was more reptilian than human.

Zachwell's eyes widened with horror, this…he had never expected…

Authors' Note: Sorry again for the wait, we're having problems where we come from that have demanded a dealing-with. So, what is this new Dragoon? Can Sean maintain this new power? Find out next chapter! Please review!


	14. The Loudest Cries of The Nameless

Chapter Fourteen: The Loudest Cries of the Nameless

Zachwell was awestruck…How was this possible? In all his uncounted years of existence, He'd not tasted this kind of fear. He clenched his fist around his sickle; he gripped it so tightly that the pale color of his knuckles faded to white.

Eight Dragons, that _human_ had the power of _eight Dragons_ on his body. The strain should have torn him limb from limb, joint from joint…molecule from molecule. Yet there he stood, as real as the fright that turned Zachwell's black blood cold.

Sparks of vibrant, powerful magic discharge shook off of the enormous wings. A reptilian growl escaped the muzzle on the terrible head of that human, Sean! The thought of the human body within that armor , however strong, filled Zachwell with rage. He was powerful, but Zachwell's revenge _would_ be realized. His muscles tensed, and he kicked off, speeding in Sean's direction.

The next three seconds were a blur. Something struck Zachwell's back, cutting the flesh and throwing him to the ground sprawling. He looked up, to find the Dragoon standing behind where he'd been, with dark blood dripping from a clawed gauntlet.

"You filthy human" Zachwell spat. Muscle, sinew, and bone reconfigured and bound together again, and he stood. He readied his sickle, but stopped in panic when he saw the glow. It was intensely bright, and Zachwell saw every color within the shine.

Sean plunged his glowing hands into the earth, and the light surrounded the entire area around them. Zachwell prepared to protect himself, but no harm came to him. Instead, the light died down, and everything was the same, or so he thought for the moment.

Suddenly the ground began rumbling, and lush, green grass and plant life sprang up from the ground. Thick, unnaturally strong vines wrapped around Zachwell's feet, he leapt up, but they pursued him. Soon he was surrounded, and brought down to the ground. Slowly they began constricting, and long thorns grew and dug deep into his flesh.

* * *

"New Life for the Worthy," Sean growled. He looked down at the thick rays of light engulfing his friends. Soon it faded, and vanished, leaving them standing, without a trace of any harm every coming to them. They were completely dumbfounded, until, in unison, their eyes fell upon the nine foot tall Dragoon. Some gasped, and some yelped at the sight of him.

"…Sean?" Ben cautiously asked. He peered at Sean. They all stared strangely at the Dragoon before them.

He raised a hand, slowly, somewhat ominously, but as fear rose in the hearts of his friends, Sean gave them a thumbs up. The Dragoons sighed in relief, but something was different about the air around Sean. They couldn't quite place it…

* * *

Sean could, he was aware of everything going on inside him at the moment. This gathering of Dragons around his body should have torn him apart, yet he held. The strain was terrible, but there were eight voices more than the norm, seven of which confessed secrets of their former hosts: friendship, admiration, reliance, and love. His own ambition, love, and anger filled him with the will to continue on fighting this incredible burden on his body, and to hold this enormous power.

The abilities of every element were at Sean's disposal, and more, as had previously been demonstrated. But Sean would not let himself see too many of the things he was capable of. He didn't want to ever be enticed to do this again.

_This is something I've never dreamt of,_ The Divine Dragon spoke. _Sean, stay strong, and be careful, this power can kill you._

_I know, and I will_, Thought Sean. This wouldn't take long. Perhaps Zachwell couldn't die, but Sean could separate him from his limbs, and scatter them across Endiness. Or perhaps the World of Light missed its favorite victim.

Either way, Sean knew that Zachwell would not be able to fend off this new power, no matter how strong he'd become. He'd be beaten, and put away forever. That is, if Sean didn't find some way to kill him.

He put his hands before him, and two of the spires on his forearm guards stuck out. An intense fireball burned suddenly within them.

"Flameshot," he growled, the fireball launched with a boom, and Zachwell fled to escape being scorched. Zachwell threw his sickle, and it flew in a straight path a Sean, who caught it and threw it to the ground. It was unwise to toy with the cunning demon. It should end right now.

Sean widened his stance, and all eight prongs clipped out and started glowing. Sean's wings became even larger, and the six inner wings stuck into the ground, while the outermost two connected to his legs. The transformation left Sean strongly resembling an anti-aircraft cannon.

"Rage Behind the Dead," Sean said. The spires' glows intensified, and they began spinning around his arms. A whir sounded out, and soon discharge lanced out in all directions, displaying the power of the magic force gathering in Sean's hands.

Melissa, a safe distance away, stared in awe at her soul mate. She took a step forward, and then another, being drawn toward him, feeling the danger of the situation they were all in. However, Ben grabbed her wrist and turned her around. "We stay here," he said sternly. Just then, a thick bolt of magical energy arced out in their direction. Ben grabbed Melissa and fell to the ground, but they watched the bolt strike some invisible barrier, and break down into nothing. Ben looked to Sean, seeing his head turn away from looking at them. He sighed again, at least the power hadn't gone to Sean's head, and he still had his friends' safety in mind.

Their heads snapped around as a bellow and a tear broke the steady noise of Sean's gathering. Zachwell tore, bloody and furious from the cocoon of vines. His sickle flew into his hands and he stuck the bottom into the ground, until the pointed back of his skull-shaped hilt was at chest height.

He plunged the sickle's hilt into his chest, right over the jewel. "This land belongs to me. Home field advantage is mine, Dragoon," he said. A thick trail of blood fell down his stomach, but it merely mixed with the blood he was covered in. Zachwell's red eyes glowed, as did the eyes of his sickle.

"Uuummm…we should go…like…right now," Rob said. The spiritless Dragoons turned and began running, leaving the scene to Sean and Zachwell. A growing ball of swirling light, and a great ball of black and red magic contrasted the traditionally dismal and dead landscape of Mayfil.

Sean looked with one of his eight eyes to see that his friends were a safe distance away. When he knew they were, he extended his fingers, and the magical reaction threw the ball in Zachwell's direction, leaving a tail that was dozens of feet thick.

"If you think the King of Death will fall to a human, penance for your mistake is a slow and painful death!" Zachwell bellowed. He released his own attack, and the beams collided and began their struggle.

Once more, Sean looked to see that his friends were a safe distance away. Finally telling himself it was safe, he unleashed the attack's true power. It moved downwards with ease, and Zachwell's beam shot upwards, over Sean's head and into the sky. Sean's beam advanced on Zachwell, who screamed and took to the skies.

The beam simply followed him. Sean made sure that it wouldn't dissipate until it had struck Zachwell with full force. The beam gathered speed, and soon Zachwell was heading for the center of Mayfil, beating his wings furiously.

Sean watched, unsurprised when the beam caught his feet, and then engulfed him in an explosion that rivaled an atomic bomb.

All of Mayfil grew silent, and seemed to watch for Zachwell to make his come back from the ashes. Yet for a long time nothing happened. A darkness appeared to be gathering in the center of the crater. Sean's wings lifted him off the ground, and without a kick of any sort they loftily carried him to the edge of the crater.

* * *

"You are kidding," Brad said, shielding his eyes from the dying explosion. They had all stopped when they'd seen their shadows on the ground in front of them and turned around. They saw a great portion of Mayfil become dust in a few seconds, and in the blast somewhere, they had lost sight of Zachwell.

"Hey!" Brittany said. "Sean's going toward the crater!"

"Let's go!" Melissa said instantly. They all began running in the other direction, following Sean to the new hole in the Death City.

* * *

Sean touched down on the edge of the crater, he'd imagined that Zachwell would reconstruct in some ugly way, but he hadn't imagined this grotesque sight. The darkness had gathered thickest in the center of a sphere, where a small blue ball was spinning.

It slowly grew larger, and the colors varied more, until a piece of it opened, revealing yellow fangs. A struggling noise erupted from the opening, which was obviously becoming Zachwell's mouth.

Arms shot out, as well as legs. They were much skinnier than they'd been before the explosion. Sean felt that Zachwell's power had been expended to bring himself back from that state of matter.

Zachwell fell to a knee as the last reconstructions finished. He stood up, looking himself over in fury. "How dare you?" He demanded. His voice was less menacing, and induced no fear, even from Sean's childhood.

Without a word he backhanded the unwitting demon into a wall on the far side of the street. Zachwell tore up from the rubble and wrapped a black strand around Sean's neck and tugged, but Sean didn't move an inch. Sean grabbed it and yanked Zachwell in close. The clawed gauntlets gripped his blue neck tightly, and Sean brought him up face-to-face, and bellowed in a Dragon's roar.

Sean threw Zachwell into the sky and unleashed a fireball, then a gust of wind, then a boulder, then a sharp stream of ice, then a bolt of electricity, and then encased Zachwell in a sphere much like the one he'd placed Sean's friends in. The difference between the two was that in a quick jolt Zachwell was compressed to a much smaller size. When the attack released, a beam of light came down from the sky and beat Zachwell into the ground. Zachwell threw himself back up, roaring and readying his sickle, to which Sean grasped his hand tightly, and felt his magic create a new blade.

Crystals of eight colors sprang from his hand, and formed a handle and hilt, and a black blade, thick and curved, sprang up and into the air. Zachwell snarled and rushed forward to bring the blade of the sickle down on Sean, but with a quick slice, Sean's blade cut through the hilt of Zachwell's.

He ran Zachwell through, all the way up to the crystalline hilt, and unleashed a blast from his cannon that tore him back off it. Zachwell tumbled to the ground, healing as he rolled.

He could not be losing this fight! He'd lost most of his strength in recovering from the great blast Sean had hit him with, now he was little more than he'd been when he'd met that accursed Dart and his band of Dragoons. Even then they couldn't kill him, so how? How could a human, a member of a race that had grown so weak, be able to fend him off with such little effort?

It didn't make sense! Blood ran from wounds that he found himself straining to heal, as Sean's blade disappeared, and the punching and kicking resumed. Zachwell tried desperately, but in vain to defend himself, and was the recipient of too many blows to heal. Finally, Sean put some effort into a strike, and knocked Zachwell fifty feet back, well into the center of Mayfil.

Zachwell laid on his back, figuring he had time to think. He looked up at the black sky. Was he dying? Would the clouds never again cover Mayfil? Would death remain his servant no longer? The tall tower, the lightning rod for the souls of the wicked in the days of the Winglies, obstructed the view of the clouds, awakening one desperate thought in Zachwell's panicked mind.

He stood up, with some effort, he wouldn't die, he couldn't die, he had a vengeance to realize. He reconstructed his sickle as Sean appeared on the scene. "You, worthless human! Even in those cloaked eyes I see you're fantasized victory, you think you've won, don't you? I can not be defeated, I am immortal! You are a mere human! If my power cannot overcome yours, that of eight dragons, then I will acquire a new strength of my own!" He said. He raised his sickle, yet rather than throw it at Sean, he thrust the bottom point into the ground, willing it to crack and break, forming a direct conduit to the Inferno.

"The souls of the wicked, strong and weak, have been trapped here from a time when there was such a thing as strength. When there was such a thing as power. And now, I am taking it as my own! Prepare for the end, human!" Zachwell roared and dropped into the fiery chasm below.

For a moment all was silent, and even Sean did not know what was occurring inside the orange glowing Hellhole. He took a curious step forward, lowering his guard ever so slightly to peer downwards a little further, but could see nothing.

Suddenly, a chorus of shrieks tore into the sky from the chasm, carrying a beaten and bloody Zachwell in the wind. Close behind him, ever upwards, were hundreds, maybe thousands of small, fiery souls that had seen every form of pain every day in the ages since their arrival. The heat from the blast warmed Sean's armor, but the aura of the reaction occurring chilled Sean's bones. What was Zachwell doing?

Sean focused on the thrashing demon of death, burning in the fires of the Wingly created Hell. The flames doused his body, licking his skin and singeing it with every touch, and eventually it burned through the shaft of Zachwell's sickle. Sean then heard three words erupt from his mouth.

"Enough of this!"

With the hilt of his sickle turned inwards, toward his chest, Zachwell thrust downwards, cutting through flesh, ribs, and the protective jewel over his black heart, in which another small incision had been placed. Zachwell threw down the sickle and grabbed hold of his ribs.

"All evils, come to me, serve me as you should," He tore the ribs outwards, and suddenly the souls began pouring in, as if sucked by a vacuum. Sean watched in awe as Zachwell's muscles, and bones, and armor all expanded, yet the souls simply kept coming.

Zachwell let out a piercing scream, with a voice that was soon joined by the other souls now residing in his body, evil souls, malice ripe in each one.

Sean felt Zachwell's body grow as strong as it had been a few moments ago, and increase again in strength. He fired a volley of magical blasts to destroy Zachwell, but they veered off as if deflected by an invisible shield.

* * *

"Something's wrong," Mike said. They climbed up over a hill of rubble and witnessed the stream of evil souls pouring into Zachwell, and Sean behold it, waiting for it to finish.

"What's going on?" Brittany asked. They began running down the hill, eager to get closer to see what this sight would portend.

Authors' Note: Sorry for the wait, but the usual is happening and we cant seem to get to the computer as much. Please review! We'll see you next chapter!


	15. The Tables Turn

Chapter Fifteen: The Tables Turn

Finally, after minutes of a thick stream of fiery souls, the torrent of wickedness thinned, and actually stopped. Long ago, a pitch-black ball of vile magic had surrounded Zachwell. It pulsated, and grew continuously, and the only thing one could see when it flashed was a curled up creature in the center as the souls poured in like a baby in the womb.

It's contortions and expansions became more and more frequent very quickly, and the power felt from it shook the earth for miles upon miles. Something was happening inside that ball as Zachwell's body attempted to adapt to its new power, Sean feared what exactly.

Finally, as if the entire event had been exaggerated, and an illusion had been abandoned, the sphere disappeared. Zachwell's chest sealed up and he fell to the earth, crashing to the soil. Tired limbs struggled to peel the Death King's body from the ground, yet he did lift up onto his hands and knees, coughing.

Sean took a cautious step forward, there was no visible difference, and after all that had happened, he felt no dangerous power increase radiating from Zachwell.

Suddenly, however, everything about Sean's assumptions was thrown out the window, and far across the world, as Zachwell suddenly burst upwards, screaming so loudly that his jaw strained to open wide enough to allow the airflow.

The scream pierced the ears of every man, woman, child, and beast all over the planet, and all covered their ears to drown out the sound. Sean stepped back in surprise as Zachwell's muscles suddenly bulged to three, no four times their normal size. His pauldrons and wrist guards stretched to their limit, and snapped, tearing gashes in his skin.

Bones from nothing stuck out of Zachwell's shoulders, and hooked upwards, giving him a look of menacing royalty. What little armor he was wearing fell to the ground, snapped from the sudden growth of their bearer. Zachwell's bones cracked as they expanded and thickened. Bloody spikes shot out of his elbows and knees. His feet grew enormous and shape-shifted to bear three thick claws, and an ankle claw on the inner side of his ankle, which was now a good three feet off the ground. His muscled legs and thighs bent tightly, giving Zachwell a hunched, gargoyle-like look to him. His horns grew and twisted, losing all symmetry. His eyes widened with the shock and pain that accompanied this transformation. They widened until they were pure, bloodshot circles in his head.

His fists, now five times the size that they had been, pounded the ground in fury, as razor sharp bones the length of a human rib tore through the skin down his spine. His wings spread wide and long, casting horrid shadows on the ground. The scream, all the while, never ceased, if anything, it had gotten more intense. Sean watched, as did the other Dragoons, in horror as suddenly, the strain of his roar tore his bottom jaw apart down the middle. Blood dripped to the ground, and the beast's tongue lulled out stupidly, yet the scream did not cease. The wound healed up instantly, as if his face had always been constructed this way.

With all his might, Zackwell fought against this force, with everything he had he resisted the overwhelming madness of millions of vile minds forcing in unison to engulf him in the insanity. The fight, however, was a losing one. They rushed forth, into and through him, consuming and destroying him. As his consciousness faded, he cursed himself for letting ambition end him….for letting a human persuade him into giving his life…..

The screaming stopped, as did the transformation. Zackwell's massive hands rested on their backs, his wicked looking claws pointing upwards, towards his even greater shoulders and neck. The spikes rattled as he straightened his back, and looked at Sean, who was taken aback by the face of his new enemy.

_His soul is gone,_ The Dragons said.

It was true, there was nothing left of Zackwell in that body. Sean could tell from the eyes, the sick, incomprehensive smile that he was giving, like that of the insane carnival clown. His wide eyes looked left and right, and a small, reptilian chuckle broke through his torn, bloody lips.

His mouth had been torn, into a smile that literally stretched ear-to-ear, joining the list of horrid new attributes. Zackwell was mad, but he had sentience, this thing, this thing was truly a beast.

Sean took another step back, but in the sudden silence, a rock crumbled and fell, and Sean blinked. When his eyes opened, Zackwell was gone. He heard the Dragoons calling to him, but he couldn't hear them.

Suddenly he felt hot, wet breathe on the back of his neck. He spun around and swung his blade, but cut only air. Two hands with the strength of an avalanche clutched Sean's shoulders, and flung him across the city, landing on the other side.

Sean burst up, wakening his limbs, no longer feeling the effortless advantage belonged to him. He readied his blade, and with some energy, created a twin for his other hand. A dark streak, red in the center with hellfire, tore across the sky with one beat of Zackwell's massive wings. With a demonic bellow never before heard by the Dragoons' ears, he brought his fists down on Sean, whose blades waited. Zackwell impaled himself on them, all the way to the crystals. He laughed madly, and licked the armor over Sean's face while his mandibles stretched out and clicked.

"Eat this," Sean said, he put true power into the blast and blew through Zackwell. For a moment he hung limp, and Sean drew out his blades, and stuck them in again, and cut the throat, and severed the limbs. He burned the remains, froze the ashes, blew them apart, and buried them in the earth. He sat back when he was done, not expecting a close to the battle, and therefore wasn't surprised when Zackwell reassembled, but when he did there was no decrease in power, no loss in strength.

Blackness surrounded Zachwell's hands, and with a double punch, he pushed Sean into the earth, sprawling, tearing deeper and deeper into the crust.

Sean burst out and stopped, at the sight of Zackwell, bathed in blood. He tossed it to the earth, and a large, boned hand burst from the earth. The skull demon emerged from the dust of Mayfil, in full form, as tall as the highest tower.

Sean stared in awe, beholding a sight he'd never expected to see. Another terrible roar erupted from Zachwell's lips. Sean took to the skies, flying higher, yet fleeing at the same time. The skull demon lunged forward, catching Sean's leg, and throwing him back to the ground.

_Call on us, all at once,_ came the voices of the Dragons. Sean stood up, spread out his arms, and did as he was told. Eight beams shot out from the eye in the center of his armor. The seven colors of the lesser dragons swirled around the color of the Divine Dragon's, and merged. The light landed on the ground, shrinking until it fit in between Sean's legs, and then suddenly it turned black, and grew immensely, carrying Sean high up, on a black saddle. The light died down as it took the shape of a Dragon.

The Ultimate Dragon had a long, spiked neck, leading to broad shoulders, and an asymmetrical back, full of spikes, fins, and wings, along with two cannon-like arms resembling the Golden Dragon's. It had four broad legs, each ending in an eight clawed foot. They struck the earth and it crumbled underneath it. The wings beat and boulders fell, the tail cracked and a building tumbled under its might. Its head was a strange mixture of every Dragon's head. There was a large eye on the bottom, yet more green eyes on the side, a number of yellow ones on the top, and black ones by the jaw hinge. It threw its head back, and in an earth shaking bellow, it revealed its long fangs. From the other side of Mayfil, the approaching Dragoons heard the roar of all their Dragons in unison.

Sean hopped off, and the Ultimate Dragon looked to him. "I'll deal with the big one," it said.

"And the ugly one's all mine," Sean said. He rushed forth and tackled Zachwell from the hand of the skull demon. The Dragon rushed forward, rearing up to shove the skull demon, who was distracted by its caller being attacked. They caught each other's paws, and began shoving on each other, testing strength, while biting and bellowing.

Sean abandoned his swords, as it appeared they hindered him in this battle. He willed his gauntlets to grow sharp at each joint, and lengthen at the knuckles.

Now, it was a grappling match. Sean punched Zachwell's stomach, impaling him each time, and then stepped in, grabbing a massive arm, he pulled in tight, and threw the beast over his shoulder. The beast tumbled downwards, yet spread out its wings and was steadied immediately. He bounced right back up and close-lined Sean, and then returned each and every punch, denting Sean's armor.

Finally, Sean blocked an upper cut by crossing his hands underneath him, and flipped over Zachwell's back, kicking him away. He tumbled again, but this time Sean had an idea. He pursued Zachwell, and just as the demon beat out its wings to stop, Sean lengthened his knuckles out even further, and cut right through them. He drew back, and with a great blast of magic, pushed Zachwell into the earth at light speed.

The Dragon finally gave up trying to overpower the skull demon, who seemed to be laughing up the entire situation. It let go of all its force, surprising the demon, and fell onto its back, kicking the demon over it. It jumped up, and landed on the demon as it began to get up. It sank its long fangs into the collar bone, which seemed to cause the demon some pain, because it cried out. It shoved up on the Dragon and turned over, landing on top, and cut an enormous 'X' in the underbelly of the Dragon.

In pain and anger, the Dragon bellowed, and then as it looked to the demon, a white hot beam lanced out, scorching it. It leapt off of the Dragon, clawing at its face. The fight wasn't over between the two titans…

Sean flew downwards, behind a powerful Star Children that had littered the ground all around the crater that had been left in the wake of the explosion. He froze, the situation was all to calm, obviously Zachwell was waiting for him to get close. He gathered all his power, into one huge ball of powerful magic, he poured his very soul, his hatred, into it, and with a flash, it became red, and grew further. The ground swelled, and an impatient Zackwell-wings and all-burst from the mound, heading straight for Sean, not even pausing at the sight of that massive magical attack awaiting him. Sean threw it, and retreated for the clouds, he saw his friends, and once again placed a protective barrier over them.

He felt an intense wave of heat, and looked down just in time to see the ball… heading right back at him! He turned and high-tailed it sideways, speeding to escape, but in the end it caught him and he was burned by his own hatred. As he fell, he chuckled to himself at the irony.

There wasn't much time to dwell on the mistake, however. Within seconds, Zachwell was on him, pounding him further into the bedrock. Sean rolled over, sat up on his knees, grabbing Zachwell's, and threw himself backwards, thusly taking Zachwell with him.

Sean jumped up, and with a stomp, shoved his claws into the beast's heart. He then sat on his bleeding chest and grabbed on the misshapen horns. He found a sharp rock, and with all his might, he slammed the back of Zachwell's head down on it, over and over again. Yet throughout all this the monster was chuckling.

Finally, as if it had grown weary of the game, it grabbed Sean's shoulders, and flung him up into the air. Before Sean could think to beat his wings, Zachwell was on his feet. He opened his mouth, and bit down on Sean's helm. Then, with a twist of Zachwell's thick, powerful neck he flung Sean across the field, into a wall of rock.

Sean got up slowly, shaking ruble off of his back, and snapped his head the other way as he heard an inhuman cry of anguish. The skull demon ripped its sharp claws once more into the underbelly of the Ultimate Dragon. The Dragon cried out, and brought a claw down, tearing through the rib cage of the demon. It bit into the lower vertebrae of the demon, which grabbed the cannon arms, and ripped violently, severing them.

The Dragon cried out, in a yelp, it head butted the demon away, but the evil skeleton saw that it had won. It began to furiously claw at the Dragon, which slunk lower and lower. Finally, it burst up and latched onto the skeleton. It looked to Sean, "I'm sorry," was all it said.

Suddenly a flash erupted and another loud explosion flattened another section of Mayfil. When the light died, there was nothing left of the demon or the Dragon. Sean fell to his knees, calling for the Dragon in his mind.

"Dragons!……Dragons!"

_…We're sorry, it found our weakness, a Dragon's underbelly could be cut by a butter knife,_ came the unisoned voices of Dragons.

"Are you all okay?"

_We've been severely weakened, Sean, you're going to have to keep up the fight for a while, it's all on you…you can do it…_

Sean felt them all collapse in his mind. Suddenly the armor shuddered. He looked at his left hand, it seemed to be attempting to pull away from itself. All of a sudden its color changed back to the Divine Dragon's dull gray, then to jade, then red, and again to indigo. Sean panicked slightly, now he had to concentrate even harder on holding this power…

He clenched his fist tightly, and the color steadied at black again, but it was heavier. But just as he stood up, his eyes met the mad gaze of Zachwell's. He grabbed Sean's pauldrons, squeezing tightly. The weakened armor crumpled, as if it were just made of ordinary steel. Sean was flung hard into the air.

Soon the towers of Mayfil were far below him, but something was stretching up to meet him. Zachwell was instantly even with him, clasping his hands behind his back.

Everything slowed down, and became silent, Sean saw Zachwell's mandibles shake as he chuckled, he brought down his fists on Sean, denting, perhaps tearing the armor, because there was suddenly a sharp pain in Sean's side. Then Zachwell became smaller and smaller. Sean turned his head and saw the ground growing increasingly closer, but could do nothing. He closed his eyes and felt the sorrow overwhelm him.

"…I've failed…" Was all he said.

"How pathetic," came a voice from far away. The ground was ten feet away….five…and…..FLASH!

Sean was lying on a grass plain. He was in his human form, without a single injury, laying his head on the cool ground, staring at two booted feet.

He rolled over, and gasped. He sat up, and stared in disbelief, because he knew very well he was never meant to find himself staring at this person again.

"I thought I'd taught you better than that," the person said.

"…Anna?"

Authors' Note: Hey, sorry about the wait, we've been waiting to get some reviews! We've only received four reviews in the last two chapters! Where did you all go? We miss you! Please review!


	16. Speaking To A Memory

Chapter Sixteen: Speaking to a Memory

"What are you doing? How can you give up like that?" Anna demanded.

Sean couldn't believe what was happening, the dismal, hopeless scene had vanished, and he was sitting in a spring field in front of the woman that had been his mentor, his _mother_…

"…He…Zachwell, or whatever that was, was too strong," Sean said.

"No, Zachwell is dead, what you have is something much, much worse," Anna corrected.

"I couldn't kill Zachwell, nor could you!" Sean said defensively.

"I wasn't strong enough to, Sean. You had the power to destroy him all along; it's always been inside you. I know that creature is a thousand times more powerful that Zachwell ever was, but you haven't even used the full extent of the power you'd been granted," Anna said. Sean was taken aback, they'd delved into an argument as if she'd been watching all along. She cocked an eyebrow just as he thought this.

"What makes you think I haven't been?" She said. She held out a hand and pulled Sean to his feet. "Sean, I know you know you haven't fully used this…this…Ultimate Dragoon or whatever you want to call it. You're afraid, afraid that it will be too much. You're afraid that you'll have to truly give it all away, and then what if it doesn't work?"

"Exactly," Sean admitted.

"Some things are simply known in the place I'm coming from Sean, but not everything. One thing I know is that you have more power in your hands than any creature has ever had in the history of Endiness, even more than this thing you're fighting now. Unfortunately we don't know the outcome of you performing at your fullest," Anna said.

"Where are you coming from?" Sean asked curiously. Anna smiled, and shook her head.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," she said. She and Sean laughed for a moment.

"I've missed you, all these years, and now you're right here, in front of me," Sean said. At this, however, Anna shook her head.

"No, here is nowhere, I'm really not even supposed to be doing this….But I couldn't let you become weak…I've missed you as well," she said, drawing Sean in for a long hug. "But in a moment you're going to have to go back to the real world, where I wont be there to help you. Your friends, Melissa, your Dragons, and every Wingly and human on the planet needs you to be strong for them. I need you to be strong. You _can_ do this, you were born to save the world, Sean. You are so powerful, don't let doubt hide that from you. And now, oh my, now with your friends…with her…you are invincible, keep it all in mind…I have to go, I cannot stay any longer," Anna said. She drew Sean in again for a hug.

"You've made me so proud thus far, my son, now go save the world," Anna said. Sean clasped her tightly, shutting his eyes as a tear slid down his cheek.

"…Alright, mom, I've got this. I love you, thank you, and goodbye," Sean said, feeling a relief in saying goodbye.

"I love you too, goodbye," Anna said. Slowly, everything about them mystified and disappeared, leaving Sean again in Mayfil. Suddenly a white light surrounded him.

He felt the power surge through him, though it was different than if he'd been backed by the Dragons, this was his own ambition leading him now, his emotion, infinitely stronger than before. As he crashed into the ground he felt nothing of physical definition. What he did, was see with foresighted eyes.

He saw a green field, with various bugs flying around, glistening with the dew in the sunlight as the morning faded away, leading into the noon. He saw a football fly into Ben's hands, as he knelt down, still in perfect form. Then he saw himself, behind Ben, acting as a quarterback, and to their left, was Brad. Mirroring them, were Mike, Rob, and…Col. Sanders?

Sean laughed at this, but quieted as the scene changed. There was yellow-white, everywhere, layers of it lightly weighing Sean down, for this time he saw everything through his own eyes. Slowly he realized he was in a bed, and he gently rolled over, hoping so desperately to see what he'd always longed to see…

He wasn't disappointed.

There she was, sleeping peacefully, with her eyes closed, and her steady breathe moving in and out of her lungs. He reached out a hand, and brushed her long black hair away from her face…her beautiful face. She nuzzled closer, feeling his touch, but not opening her eyes, she held out and arm and pulled him tight, in an embrace that took Sean's breathe away.

He leaned in to kiss her head, and she moaned softly, and finally opened her eyes, "…Good morning," she said. Sean opened his mouth, but no words came out…finally the vision ended, and Sean was truly in Mayfil, and vowed not to leave until this enemy was dead.

He stood up, feeling not the least bit injured, despite the gash in his side. A light seemed to swirl and radiate around him, a light that came from him. He looked to the approaching Zachwell. He put a foot back, and poured the true power of eight Dragons, and a human prepared to die into his fist, and as soon as Zachwell was right in his face, he threw a punch that sent the demon sprawling, unable to regain his balance.

Sean took this moment to turn to his comrades, who'd finally arrived on the scene, panting with energy. Sean laughed. "They're not gonna be happy about all that running."

He kicked off, and extended his arms like he could with the Divine Dragoon's armor. His friends all stopped in their tracks, dumbfounded, but Sean scooped them up and raced them outside of the city. He touched down behind a mound, where they'd be safe. Before setting them down, he squeezed them all tightly, hoping that what he'd seen a moment before was fate. He set them down, and his helm parted and pulled to the sides of his face, showing them his human face.

He smiled. "You guys are the best, take care, in case I don't come back," he said, he gave a slightly weaker smile to Melissa, who grabbed his wrist.

"You're coming back," she said forcefully, she still had that intense look in her eyes that reminded Sean so much of Anna. He smiled stronger.

"Okay, I love you," he said. She grabbed his shoulders and jumped up for a quick kiss. With that, he gave a wave, and took off, letting his helm slide back over his face and melt together, and his doubt show on his face again.

He arrived in the center of the city and waited. Finally he saw Zachwell fly up to meet him, now slightly angry at the fact that a single blow had knocked him for so much of a whirl. Sean grunted.

All his ambition, his strength, his anger, and his love fueled him onwards now. Not to mention his responsibility. The weight of the world, for truly the first time, was on his shoulders alone, it was his trial, the test of his true strength. He wouldn't fail to save the world when he'd fought to save it so many times.

The light intensified, and for the first time he thought he saw fear in that demon's eyes. It quickly disregarded it, however, and rushed forward, beating out a dark aura to match Sean's light.

Sean merely called on more of his power, delving deep into the truth of what it was to be this Ultimate Dragoon. He put forth a hand and Zachwell simply stopped, struggling, but unable to move forward. Sean threw him to the ground, then pulled him back up to eye level.

He grabbed the demon by the mandibles, and kicked up into the roof of the mouth. Then he brought the head down on his spiked knee. He latched around Zachwell, and flew fast to the earth, throwing him to the ground just close enough to pull up and avoid hitting it himself.

He set down on the ground, as the demon burst upwards, in a flurry of punches, slashes, and kicks, none of which hitting their mark. Sean drew out his own blades, bathing them in light and fire, and cut deep gashes into his enemy, who seemed unable to heal himself so easily.

Finally, Zachwell stumbled back, holding a gut that was slowly healing three deep gashes. Sean let his blades dissipate, it was time. He brought his arms inwards, and then threw them out, feeling all of the power surge through him, triggering the most powerful magical attack in all of the arsenal that the new Dragoon had to offer. His eight wings shined a violent light, giving a sort of birth to a warrior that seemed to be composed of a specific element.

The fire warrior threw himself through Zachwell first, who burst into flame, crying out in agony. Then the water warrior doused the flames, and froze Zachwell in place, at absolute zero temperature. The earth warrior crushed him, and the light melted the demonic chunks of ice, and then scorched them. Clouds of the lightning warrior's creation dropped lighting onto the Dark Lord. The wind warrior's strike turned into a tempest of fierce wind and razor sharp leaves. The darkness engulfed Zachwell, where the demons of darkness waited for him, eager to do their caller's bidding. They tore him apart further, despite him being of their element.

The eye in his chest separated, the seven lesser Dragons' eyes spread out and encircled the eye of the Divine Dragon. A beam tore out of each eye, and through Zachwell, filling him with explosive energy. Zackwell was kept in place by some strange force, and hit by explosions on all sides, as if the very world were ending around him.

Yet the Ultimate Dragoon's attack did not end there. The Dragon came forth, as if it hadn't been injured at all. It beat Zackwell into the earth with its nose, and then opened its mouth just over him, and fired a blast down on it, dissipating just afterwards.

Now, the element that Zachwell was weakest against was light, so the attack was modified just for him. A miniature world of light encased him, searing his flesh, muscle, and even bone, increasing in temperature, until only the smoking ash remained. Sean let them fall to the soil.

"Now, comes the part I fear. But if I go, I at least know I'll take you, and this accursed city with me," he said as Zachwell revived himself.

The demon tried to crawl away, but Sean was on him. He buried his gauntlets into the Zachwell's back, but still dug deeper, up to his elbows, then his shoulders.

A strange magic allowed Sean to burrow his body into Zachwell's own, which caused the monster considerable pain. Sean closed his eyes, not desiring to see inside his enemy, he felt the power inside his armor swell, as the attack finally neared its close. He prayed quickly that his friends hadn't followed him.

Finally he was ready, Zachwell was swelled to twice his size again, with another person stuck inside him, he clawed at himself as the light burned his innards, but Sean was too far along, the attack was ready. Sean could only think of one name for it, and in one word, he spoke it softly as the magical explosion engulfed them both.

"Omni…"

* * *

Melissa had been peering over the hill's peak, but when the explosion erupted, she had to jump down to shield her eyes. The Dragoons saw the light reflect off the mountainsides of a range not far away. It was a million different flashes of all different colors. 

It lasted for five minutes, shaking the earth, blinding any who looked to it. The Dragoons instantly despaired, how could Sean survive that explosion? How could anything ever survive that?

Finally it lessened, and a great shockwave sent what small remains of Mayfil tumbling over the hill, far off into the distance. When the shaking finally stopped, the Dragoons lifted up their heads, to find seven shining lights of red, gold, indigo, violet, blue, white, and jade coming closer to them. They held out their hands and their Dragoon spirits landed in them, hot from use.

"Where's Sean?" Ben asked.

_…We…lost him in the explosion, he tossed us away as it began to die down, but he kept the Divine Dragon's spirit,_ Red-Eyes answered.

"That worries me, can you hear him calling to you?" Ben asked.

_No._

"Why am I not surprised," Ben whispered. He activated the spirit, on low power at Red-Eyes' request, and the other's followed his lead. Melissa tore out in front of them, scanning the leveled crater of Mayfil for a sign of Sean.

For hours they scanned the area, calling his name, but received no reply, until they were near the center of the city.

There Melissa had to touch down, because something just felt stronger there, something like….like she simply knew he was there. "Sean?" She yelled. Again there was no reply. She called Robert over, to have a gust lightly blow away the dust.

After a moment, they saw a hand, and Melissa grabbed it and pulled it up, slipping on the blood. He was bruised and cut everywhere, but when she held him tightly against her, she felt his heartbeat. She clutched him tightly, weeping on his head. After a moment, she felt a weak hand rest on her shoulder, and opened her eyes to stare into his.

A faint smile shone through the dirt and sweat on his face. "Hey there," he said weakly. Melissa kissed him quickly, hearing him attempt to say "ow," but stop when she held him tighter.

"You are SO lucky you made it out of that alive," Melissa said when she was done, and Sean laughed quietly with her.

"I know…believe me I know," he said. "So…do you think Christie could start working on me say…now?" He asked.

"Yes, I think so," Christie said, calling on the White Silver Dragon to heal some of his wounds.

"Good, I think, maybe I earned a nap?" Sean inquired as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"Oh I think so," Mike said. Sean smiled.

"Good, but it wasn't just me, you guys were there too…" he said, pointing a finger around at them all. However, before they could inquire as to what he meant, his hand fell down and hung limp off Melissa's lap.

"Let's get out of here," Ben said. They all nodded and began the long flight home…

Authors' Note: Hey y'all! Sorry about the wait, but a lot is happening. And so, it's the end of Zackwell, did you like it? Tell us what you think, we're begging, let's get a flood of reviews, if you've read this far, we BEG you! Please review!


	17. Two Months Later

Chapter Seventeen: Two Months Later…

Brad caught the football behind the pine tree outside Colonel Jeff Sanders' home. Sean announced the touch down. They all sat down on a large picnic blanket to eat lunch under the clear blue sky.

As they ate, Brittany stood up, pulling Brad with her. "We have a little announcement to make," she said. Brad smiled and hugged her. "I'm gonna be having a baby!" Brittany yelled.

Christie shrieked, hugging her son close, "You're gonna have a little friend, Mark!" Ben rapped his arm around her and the kissed quickly before congratulating the soon to be mother and father.

"How long have you known?" Marian asked.

"Well, I've known for two days, Brad found out last night," she answered. At this Robert jumped up.

"So THAT'S why the power went out last night during the football game!" he shouted, jabbing a finger at Brad, who didn't deny responsibility for the occurrence.

"What? I was a little surprised!" he said, laughing.

"Well, if you all don't mind, I have a little surprise of my own," Mike said. He announced that in one week he and his girlfriend would be husband and wife, and they were all invited to the wedding.

Everyone was giddy with excitement, and conversation swarmed the blanket, yet there was one couple that wasn't quite into the talking just yet. Sean toyed with Melissa's new wedding ring, looking into her eyes with a coy smile.

"All this excitement, I don't think they could handle anymore," he said.

"You're right, we can wait a little bit longer to tell them our little secret," Melissa said. Sean put a hand on her stomach, and leaned in for a kiss. She laid her head on his shoulder and they entered the lunchtime chatting.

Mayfil was destroyed, the King of Death had been annihilated, and all evil in the world just seemed to die out. The Dragoons, however, did not separate this time. In fact, they were all preparing to move into the same subdivision with all the money they'd received for their efforts in the defense of Endiness for a decade.

From now on, they knew things would be okay. The next generation of Dragoons had fulfilled their duties, and could rest easy for the rest of their lives, assuming the need never arose for Dragon Knights. No such feeling of accomplishment had been felt by any of them ever before.

It had cost a week of sleep from Sean in the end, but he woke refreshed and without trouble. Now the rest of their lives could begin, normality could be experienced for the first time since they were teenagers, and in the end, they couldn't be happier…

THE END

Authors' Note: Hey y'all, we're really sorry about the LONG wait, but we were waiting for some decent review numbers! Please help this story go out with a bang of reviews, tell us what you think, even if you hate it. And wait for only a short while, and you will get the final installment of the Next Generation Series! Until Then!


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